Fear can be pleasurable experience to watch 'Kerala Story' on silver screen: Expert

Kochi: 'Fear' is an essential element of Hindi movie 'Kerala Story' which is why we consistently crave the adrenaline rush in scary films, Disaster Mental Health Expert Dr Naresh Purohit said on Sunday.

This explains the psychology that "fear" can be a pleasurable experience to watch on the silver screen, Dr Naresh Purohit said on the psychological impact of the film 'Kerala Story.'

Principal Investigator for the Association of Studies for Mental Care, Dr Purohit averred that fear is the primary psychological weapon underlying acts of terrorism in the film the Kerala story.

"It is this fear, or the anticipation of future acts of terror, that can have serious effects on our behavior and minds," he told UNI.

"Watching Kerala story makes us feel that the characters are real and that truth is scarier than fiction. Therefore, watching this film based on a real story gives us constant reminder that it happened to someone and can happen to us too," he observed.

"The satisfaction at the end of the this film makes it addicting to watch," he added.

Dr Purohit also advisor for the National Mental Health Programme said that the Kerala Story is all about the happenings in the state of Kerala, God's Own Country a few years back when it was found that a few Hindu women were converted to Islam forcibly and were sent to Syria, Pakistan, Afghanistan and other countries to train them as terrorists by the dreaded terrorist organization ISIS.

He averred that the Kerala Story locates its war on the bodies of women, playing up the fears of families and communities in a heavily patriarchal society.

There is a mention of a Christian man who is radicalised and converts to Islam, but the film isn’t interested in understanding the whys and hows of that story.

He revealed that the focus is on the women, with extremely triggering, graphic scenes of sexual violence. In one scene, a pregnant woman is slammed against a table while her Muslim husband tells her that it is her duty to have sex with him.

From the rapist lifting her clothes to undo the strings of her pyjamas to heaving over her and orgasming, the camera captures it all.

"It’s a “shock value” scene – and in a country where there is stringent opposition to criminalising marital rape, it is shocking only because of the religious identity of the husband," he added. (UNI)