'We should celebrate freedom of expression and watch The Kerala Story'

As her film ‘The Kerala Story’ landed in controversy and got banned in several parts in the country, Adah Sharma, who plays a lead in the Sudipto Sen directorial, said that freedom of expression should be celebrated.

She insisted on watching the film before commenting on it.

“I am not the authority, but in my opinion, we should celebrate freedom of expression and watch the movie and then everyone has a choice to decide if they want to comment positively or negatively about it,” the actor told a leading news agency.

In the film, Adah plays the role of Fathima Ba, a Malayali Hindu nursing student, who goes missing from Kerala and is recruited to the ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) after being lured to convert to Islam.

“We should also honour the censor board who passed the film and the supreme court. Those who want to ban the film, if they watch it, they might realise the film speaks against terrorism and they might decide to increase the screenings and show the film to more young girls,” she added.

Adah further said: “We live in a democratic country, thankfully, where there is freedom of speech and expression. Unlike the place, where the character I play, was taken to in the film. I'm very grateful I love it here in India.”

She pointed out to the ‘anti-terrorism’ aspect of her film.

“It is humanity vs terrorism. It’s about being cheated in love. About why you shouldn’t rape someone. So, any person from any place in the world supporting this film I think is a great thing!”

Adah said that those who don’t believe that something like this happened and forced conversations are not real: “They should Google two words ISIS brides and get an account of girls worldwide who have gone through this. Terrorism is a global issue.”