The Kerala Story Fame Sonia Balani Breaks Silence On Film’s Controversy, Reveals “Have Been Receiving Abusive Messages… When It Comes To Extended Family…”
Sonia Balani opens up on playing a muslim womanwomen in The Kerala Story and how people have been behaving with her. Read more.
The Kerala Story Actor Sonia Balani Opens Up On Playing ‘A Muslim Girl Manipulating Other Girls To Convert To Islam’ ( Photo Credit – Movie Still )
Advertisement
The Kerala Story, directed by Sudipto Sen and produced by Vipul Amrutlal Shah has been recently grabbing all the headlines. The film has been dejected by some and has been accepted by a lot. But the actors and the crew have been receiving constant threats, bashing, and dejection for the film. Now, actress Sonia Balani has opened up on the hate she has been receiving for the film.
Sonia plays a Muslim Woman in The Kerala Story who convinces her roommates to convert to Islam. Later the girls join ISIS. In an interview, the actress assures, “When we made the film, it was purely because it’s a true story of those girls. Sudipto sir (director Sudipto Sen) has been researching this topic for seven years now. He showed us some pictures and videos and I instantly felt like doing it because it’s such a sad story and it affected me when I read the script.”
Sonia Balani opened up on receiving abuse after her character Asifa came on screen. While talking to Hindustan Times, she claimed, ” I have been receiving abusive messages because I have said many strong lines in the movie about all the Gods. I know there is a section which is not happy, but if they realise that it’s a true story and the motive is only to create awareness of those terrorist groups, then I hope that they can feel positive about it.”
She even opened up on her extended family not acting very comfortable around her character, “When it comes to my extended family, because of a few lines in the film, they also felt the audience should not perceive it in a different way.”
However, Sonia Balani assures that her family understands the difference between reel and real and has been applauding her role in the film. “When it comes to my own family, they are very happy of course. They saw it as a character and were happy that I had done a great job in the film. They told me that they could realise that I’ve grown as an actor, even if it’s a negative character. They said that we realise it’s just a character, and you gave our best shot, ” the actress said.
She added how The Kerala Story is a film done right. The Tum Bin 2 actress said in the same interview with HT, “I was numb when I heard the script. When I read it, I thought that it was a true story of those girls and for a bigger cause. Even if one girl is saved from getting brainwashed, that serves the purpose.”
For the unversed, The Kerala Story, directed by Sudipto Sen, is a story of four women and how from being regular college students in Kerala, they became part of terror organisations.
