The Kerala Story Review: Emotionally Exploitative Gaze And Half-Truths Mar Adah Sharma's Performance

'The Kerala Story' is a thought-provoking film that follows the life of Shalini Unnikrishnan, played by Adah Sharma, who is trained as an ISIS terrorist. The movie takes the audience on a journey from the deserts of West Asia to the beautiful landscapes of Kerala. The narrative structure of the movie is well-balanced between past and present, with the use of different colors, camera movements, and music to differentiate the two timelines.

The screenplay of the film is engaging and follows the three-act structure, which keeps the audience hooked until the end. The performances of the cast, including Adah Sharma, Yogita Bihani, Sonia Balani, and Siddhi Idnani, are spot on and commendable. The film also delves into themes of Hindu religious worship, atheism, communism, and indoctrination of Islam and Sharia law, making it thematically rich.

However, the background score of the film is quite deafening and can be distracting. The sound of lashes in the background during brainwashing sessions could have been conveyed without that kind of musical element. The portrayal of violence and sexual exploitation at all levels could have been balanced to widen the audience base. The dialogue is also rather typical and cliche, with the constant reference to Kerala as 'God's own country.'

Overall, 'The Kerala Story' is a well-cut film that does not experiment much with the narrative structure. It is more concerned about revealing the story in a particular fashion so as to educate the audience. The film could have had better organic linking of music into the narrative, and the director Sudipto Sen could have done more to make the brainwashing process seem less inevitable. Despite these minor flaws, 'The Kerala Story' is a compelling film that sheds light on the sensitive topic of terrorism and its impact on innocent lives.