UP government will declare ‘The Kerala Story’ tax-free in the state, chief minister Yogi Aditya Nath announced on Tuesday. UP has become the second state after Madhya Pradesh to make the controversial film ‘tax-free.’
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Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Aditya Nath will watch the film along with his cabinet colleagues at a special screening to be organized at Lok Bhawan on May 12, the chief minister’s secretariat said.
Earlier Madhya Pradesh government declared the film tax – free. MP CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan said in a video message, “The film shows how the (life of) daughters who get entangled in the trap of love jihad get destroyed. It also exposes the design of terrorism. ”
It may be noted that West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday ordered an immediate ban on the screening of the movie to avoid “any incident of hatred and violence”. Banerjee said at a press briefing in Howrah, “What is ‘The Kashmir Files’? It is to humiliate one section. What is ‘The Kerala Story’?… It is a distorted story.”
Meanwhile, reacting to the ban by West Bengal government, Vipul Shah, Producer of the film said that they will take legal action against the ban imposed on the screening of the film in West Bengal.
‘The Kashmir Files’ director Vivek Agnihotri said he is considering filing a defamation case against West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee after the latter on Monday alleged that the controversial film was made to humiliate one section of the society, whereas ‘The Kerala Story’ was a distorted movie aimed at defaming the southern state.”
Filmmaker and president of the Indian Film & Television Directors’ Association Ashoke Pandit has condemned the ban on The Kerala Story in West Bengal. Taking to Twitter on Monday, Ashoke also shared a video clip recorded on how the Kolkata Police shut down the screening of the movie.
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