The Kerala Story 2: Slow ticket sales on first day of film's release

Thiruvananthapuram/Kochi/Kozhikode: A day after the Kerala High Court paved the way for the release of the 'The Kerala Story 2-Goes Beyond' film, ticket sales of the movie are slow, but are expected to pick up in the coming days, theatre owners said on Saturday.

Meanwhile, activists of the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) staged protests outside theatres screening the film in various parts of the state, saying that they will not allow people to watch the movie, which allegedly depicts Kerala in a bad light.

DYFI leaders said they were not against people who want to watch movies or even the theatre owners, but were protesting against the film, which allegedly tarnishes the image of the state.

Visuals on TV channels showed protestors shouting slogans against the movie and tearing down its posters at various theatres that were screening the film.

According to figures on the online movie ticket booking app, BookMyShow, ticket sales are very low in various theatres in the state capital.

In the PVR theatre at the Lulu Mall in Thiruvananthapuram, there were only 68 bookings till 10 am for the four shows scheduled for the day, according to BookMyShow figures.

In Kochi, Suresh, the owner of the popular Shenoy theatre, said there were around 50 per cent bookings for the four shows scheduled during the day.

"The bookings are more for the evening and night shows," he told PTI.

He said that the number of shows to be screened in the coming days will be decided based on the first day's ticket sales.

At the same time, Suresh also said that it was a slow start when the first movie -- 'The Kerala Story' -- was released in 2023.

"The bookings had slowly picked up, and there was a good collection," he said.

At Kozhikode city's Crown Theatre, a similar trend was seen last time in 2023, its owner Vinod Iyer said.

This time, the bookings are "very poor" for the four shows scheduled in his theatre for the day, Iyer told PTI.

He said that the reasons for it might be that the bookings were opened late on Friday, and people might be waiting for the reviews before making a decision.

Even in various other theatres in the city, bookings are very low, and some have cancelled shows as a result, he said.

"Hopefully, things will improve in the coming days as they did the first time," Iyer said.

A division bench of the Kerala High Court on Friday had paved the way for the release of 'The Kerala Story 2-Goes Beyond' film by staying the single judge order, which had put on hold the movie's screening for 15 days.

The bench had said that the single judge's finding that guidelines for certification have not been borne in mind by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) were "merely on the basis of a few clippings and without viewing the movie" and therefore, it "cannot be countenanced".

It had further said that once a certificate has been issued, there is, prima facie, a presumption that the authority concerned has taken into account all the guidelines, including public order.

"In the light of the afore discussions, we are of the view that the impugned order dated February 26, 2026 interdicting the release of the movie is only to be stayed and we do so. Ordered accordingly," the bench had said on an appeal moved by the film's producer Vipul Amrutlal Shah against the single judge's order.

The single judge, on Thursday, held that prima facie there was a manifest non-application of mind to the requirement of law by the censor board, CBFC.

The judge also said that "the possibility of communal disharmony or denigration of a community also being prima facie involved in the movie", and its release without scrutiny by the higher authorities would be legally improper.

The court had further said that the content of the film's teaser has "a prima facie potential to distort public perception and disturb communal harmony".