The Kerala Story 2 was released on February 27 after the stay was lifted.
The film witnessed protests and show cancellations in several places in Kerala.
The film also had a poor box office opening.
The Kerala High Court division bench on Friday (February 27) lifted the single judge's 15-day interim order, which had stayed the release of The Kerala Story 2. Following the order, the film was released, but there were protests at several places in Kerala, and screenings were also cancelled in some theatres. This affected the box office collections. It received a very poor response on the opening day.
The Kerala Story 2 faces protests
According to news agency ANI, the scheduled screening of The Kerala Story 2 in Kannur was cancelled on Saturday following a protest by activists of the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI).
DYFI activists, led by DYFI Thissur District Committee Secretary K S Russal Raj, headed towards Thrissur's Fun Movies theatre, and poured charcoal on posters of the film. They also tore and burned the posters outside theatres, forcing the theatre management to refund the money.
The screening was cancelled as there was poor audience turnout and the management also confirmed that there would be no live screenings inside the mall.
Reportedly, Cinepolis in the Mall of Travancore, Thiruvananthapuram, also cancelled the film screenings.
The Kerala Story 2 box office opening
The Kerala Story 2 opened to a very slow start at the box office. As per a report in IANS, only two tickets were booked for the first show, at Regal Theatre in Kozhikode, due to which the show was cancelled. In Ernakulam district, where the film has been screened in seven theatres, the occupancy was very low. Pan Cinemas witnessed six bookings for a show, while PVR saw only two tickets sold. Shenoys Theatre in Kochi also witnessed a poor turnout.
On Day 1, the film collected Rs 75 lakhs and witnessed growth on Day 2, earning Rs 4.65 crore.
On Friday, a Division Bench of Justices SA Dharmadhikari and PV Balakrishnan lifted the stay imposed by single-judge Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas. The order was passed in response to the writ appeals by producer Vipul Amrutlal Shah against the single judge order.
Shah held a press conference after the verdict, where he said, "Neither our film, nor I, nor my crew members are against the state of Kerala, it's God's own country. It's a beautiful and wonderful state, but if something wrong is happening over there, then I'm just bringing it to people's notice. Once you watch the film, you will see that we've not said anything negative about Kerala or the people of Kerala.”
