Kerala Story 2 release: How the filmmakers got the climax they wanted

On February 17, 2026, Sunshine Pictures, the producers of Kerala Story 2- Goes Beyond released a 3 minutes 7 seconds long trailer for the movie.

The movie was a sequel to Kerala Story, which had raked up much controversy for its portrayal of the alleged recruitment of women from Kerala into the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

It was no surprise then that the first official trailer of the new movie drew many eyes. It was a short scene towards the end, where a group of Muslim women and a man are force feeding beef to a Hindu woman, that was most widely talked about. Screenshots of the scene were shared widely on social media, mostly by netizens who found it to be absurd, insulting and a dangerous mischaracterisation of everything Malayali.

The matter reached the Kerala High Court in record time. Petitioners sought to stop the release of the movie which was scheduled for February 27.

February 26 and 27 proved to be the most eventful days ,as a single-judge stayed the release of the movie, a division bench heard appeals (that were mentioned before the order was passed?) and then lifted the stay all in the span of 24 hours.

The movie hit theatres on February 27.

With the Supreme Court going on vacation for Holi, the High Court Division Bench lifting the stay virtually meant a victory for the movie producers.

The holidays effectively tie the hands of the petitioners, who have no scope of an appellate remedy until the Supreme Court reopens on March 9. The movie will have been watched (and pirated copies spread online) by then.

A timeline of the case follows.

February 19: Two days after the trailer was released, Kannur native Sreedev Namboodiri moved the Court, alleging that the movie's title and promotional materials contained themes and dialogues capable of inciting violence and unfairly stigmatised the State of Kerala. Namboodiri objected to the teaser's closing line 'ab sahenge nahin… ladenge’ (we will not tolerate it anymore, but will fight).

February 20: Another petition was filed before the High Court by one Freddie V Francis, who sought a ban on the film's release and challenged the use of the term 'Kerala' in the title, arguing that it falsely associated the State with terrorism and forced religious conversion, despite the film's story involving characters from other states.

February 23: Advocate Athul Roy moved the High Court seeking to rename the movie by removing 'Kerala' from the title.

All three petitioners challenged the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC)'s decision to grant certification to the movie.

February 19

The Court issued notice and sought the response of producers and CBFC to Namboodiri's petition.

Subsequently, on later dates, notice was issued on other petitions as well.

February 24

The petitions were posted for detailed hearing before Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas.

During the hearing in the morning, Justice Thomas remarked,

"Kerala is so secular. It lives with total harmony but have you considered this when something is portrayed as happening all over the State?"

The judge also expressed his wish to watch the movie before passing orders.

While initially appearing amenable to the suggestion, Senior Advocate S Sreekumar, representing Sunshine Pictures, returned in the afternoon and said that he would first like to argue on the maintainability of the petitions itself. This prompted Justice Thomas to orally remark that the filmmakers are not keen on screening the movie for the Court.

February 25

This was another day of extensive hearing, with the producers leading arguments for a substantial portion of the day. Sreekumar argued that the reliefs sought cannot be granted based on a few minutes long trailer or teaser. As the Court's sitting hours ended for the day, Sreekumar told the Court that the movie is slated for release this Friday, February 27 and that its overseas rights have already been sold for distribution.

Justice Thomas said that he will hear all parties and the film's release may be put on hold till the hearing is complete.

The causelist for the next day, which was released in the evening, showed that the petitions were listed for orders at 2 PM.

February 26: Stay order and urgent hearing of appeal

10:30 AM: Sunshine Pictures' counsel rushed to Justice Thomas' court in the morning to seek urgent hearing so that the orders can be passed in the morning itself. They asked for the opportunity to file an appeal on the same day if needed. Justice Thomas declined the request, stating that he would pronounce orders at 2 PM as planned.

11:00 AM: The producers' counsel then rushed to Court 6B presided over by a Division Bench of Justices SA Dharmadhikari and PV Balakrishnan. They told the Bench that they would file an appeal against a single-judge order and sought urgent posting. The Bench agreed to hear them the same day.

It is crucial to note that the single-judge had not pronounced his order at this time. This raised many an eyebrow, since the producers were pre-empting that the single-judge's order would be against them. Later, the Division Bench would itself say that it was unaware that the single-judge was yet to pass an order when the mentioning was made.

2:30 PM: Justice Thomas delivered his verdict. He dismissed the petition moved by Athul Roy for want of locus standi. But on the petitions moved by Namboodiri and Francis, the judge passed an interim order staying the release of the movie for 15 days. The judge opined that prima facie, there was an absence of application of mind by CBFC while giving the movie a green signal. The Court, therefore, directed the CBFC to consider the revision petitions filed by the petitioners within a period of two weeks.

7:30 PM: The Division Bench convened an urgent special sitting to hear an appeal filed by the producers. Sunshine Pictures was now represented by two different senior counsel - Senior Advocates Neeraj Kishan Kaul and Elvin Peter. It is quite unusual for the Court to sit beyond working hours to hear cases unless it involves the life or personal liberty of an individual.

Justice Dharmadhikari started the hearing by confirming that he permitted filing of the appeal on Thursday morning, unaware that the single-judge was yet to pass any order in the matter saying,

"We had granted the prayer to file appeal in the morning itself, but nobody told us that judgment was yet to be delivered. The judgment was delivered in the afternoon, so there was no question of hearing this case in the afternoon." 

But nary a comment was made on this unusual event in the rest of the two-hour-long hearing.

11:00 PM: Counsel for parties (and journalists) were informed that the Bench would upload a judgment by 11:30 PM. However, news soon spread that the judges had changed their mind and gone back to their residences.

February 27: Release day

The appeal was not listed in the causelist for the day, leaving everyone in the dark as to when an order could be expected.

The counsel for the petitioners, Advocates Maitreyi Hedge and Sreerag Shylan, approached Justice Thomas in the morning to inform him that they may move contempt of court petitions. They said that ticket selling platform Book My Show was allowing movie bookings for Kerala Story 2 in all States except Kerala.

The Division Bench assembled at 2:00 PM to deliver a host of other verdicts.

The counsel for the parties in the Kerala Story case and other interested parties all tuned in, only to be disappointed as the Court made no mention of the case and rose within 15 minutes.

At 4:00 PM, minutes before the final bell for the week rang in the Court, the Division Bench assembled in Court 6B just to deliver an order in this one case. The Court was muted on video conference, but the verdict was soon revealed. The Bench stayed the single-judge's order, effectively clearing the movie for release. The Bench opined that since the CBFC had watched the movie in its entirety, there is a presumption that the decision to grant certification was taken after comprehensive analysis. In case the movie spurs communal tension, it is the duty of the State's law and order machinery to address the same, the Bench said.

Also at 4:00 PM, the Supreme Court shut its doors for the Holi vacation. Those doors will remain shut till March 9.

Kerala Story 2 has already hit the screens. Critics are already at work. Any damage the movie can do will have already been done by the time the Supreme Court reopens.