India's Row Over Low-Budget Bollywood Film Turns Deadly

A Bollywood film depicting Hindu and Christian women lured to join ISIS has divided India along state lines, triggering deadly clashes. The Kerala Story is a fictional drama but was originally touted as being based on the true stories of more than 30,000 such women until a court ruled the creators' claims had no basis in fact.

- MAROOSHA MUZAFFAR

Critics from opposition parties across India have described the film as Hindu nationalist "propaganda" and accused it of perpetuating Islamophobia. But it has been heavily promoted by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), including in tweets by prime minister Narendra Modi.

The low-budget film, from director Sudipto Sen, has been at the centre of controversy since the day its trailer was released in India. After its cinema release on 5 May, the state of West Bengal banned showings, while Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh - the country's two most populous BJP-ruled states cut the price of tickets by waiving government taxes.

The first death reported in the row occurred in Akola in Maharashtra, after clashes broke out between two groups with differing views on the film. The state government has increased the police presence in the city and cut off access to the internet in several areas, in an attempt to prevent protesters and rival groups from gathering.