3 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Feb 27, 2026 10:30 PM IST
After weeks of legal battle, producer Vipul Amrutlal Shah’s upcoming film Kerala Story 2: Goes Beyond, the sequel of the controversial film The Kerala Story, has finally found some relief. A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court lifted the interim stay on its release. Meanwhile, Shah also reacted to the criticism the social-thriller drama has been receiving.
The Bench of Justices S A Dharmadhikari and P V Balakrishnan stayed the single bench order of Thursday, after the film’s producer moved an appeal in court. The single bench of Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas had earlier issued a stay on the release of the movie temporarily for two weeks and had instructed the Central Board to revisit the screening certificate it had issued to The Kerala Story 2.
Following relief from the Kerala High Court, The Kerala Story 2 producer Vipul Amrutlal Shah addressed the backlash the film has been receiving and said, “Neither our film, nor I, nor anyone in my team is against the state of Kerala or the people of Kerala. Kerala is a beautiful place, a God-loving country, but if something wrong is happening in this God-loving country, it is our endeavour to bring it to the notice of the people and correct it. I promise you that if you watch the film, you will understand that we have not said anything negative about Kerala or its people in this film. This film exposes some criminals.”
He further added, “Some criminals live in Kerala, some are from Madhya Pradesh, some are from Rajasthan, and that’s why we named this film ‘The Kerala Story 2 Goes Beyond’. I assure them that when you watch the film, you’ll realise we’re not portraying Kerala in a negative light at all…I believe the biggest proof of our film’s authenticity is that the Kerala court lifted the stay order. So I am deeply grateful to the Justice of the Kerala court”
The Kerala Story 2: Goes Beyond was scheduled to hit theatres in India on February 27, 2026. Directed by Kamakhya Narayan Singh, the film stars Ulka Gupta, Aditi Bhatia, and Aishwarya Ojha.
