Ashoke Pandit Criticizes Mamata Banerjee's Dictatorial Attitude Following The West Bengal Ban On The Kerala Story

Ashoke Pandit has criticized West Bengal's ban on The Kerala Story. He is the head of the Indian Film and Television Directors' Association. Ashoke posted two quick videos to Twitter on Monday. In one of the videos, actor Amitabh Bachchan speaks about a recent event in the state. The second video shows a person filming how the Kolkata Police stopped the movie from being screened.

Amitabh was quoted as saying in the video, "But even now ladies and gentlemen, and I'm sure my colleagues on stage will agree, questions are being raised on civil liberties and freedom of expression. Since those early times, there have been many changes in cinema content." Another video showed a person sitting inside a theatre with a blank screen. "I am in Lake Mall Cinepolis right now. I've come to see the movie The Kerala Story at 10.55 pm show. Just after 15 minutes, the police has come here and they have asked to shut down the movie. The hall authorities are saying they will refund the movie tickets. It's house full, everyone is sitting over here... The ban is from tomorrow and these people are showing muscle power today." Ashoke posted the video with the remark,

I condemn the death threats issued by #JitendraAhwad an ex minister of Maharashtra Govt to the Producer of #TheKeralaStory Shri Vipul A. Shah.
A law maker himself cannot break the law himself .
I appeal to his leader Aadarniya @PawarSpeaks to pull him up.
I also make an appeal… pic.twitter.com/MfkqNlPg1K

— Ashoke Pandit (@ashokepandit) May 9, 2023

Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister of West Bengal, imposed an immediate ban on the film's screening on Monday. She stated that it was to prevent "any incident of hatred and violence." Producer of The Kerala Story Vipul Shah responded by stating that they would file a lawsuit to challenge the state's decision.