The story follows three Hindu girls, Surekha Nair (Ulka Gupta), Neha Sant (Aishwarya Ojha), and Divya Sinha (Aditi Bhatia), each of whom chooses love over family. Their journeys, however, converge in similar ways. All three are deceived by Muslim men and coerced into religious conversion.

Unsurprisingly, TKS 2 has been mired in controversy since its trailer dropped. The turbulence followed it right up to release, which itself stayed until Friday night, adding yet another layer of drama to a film that appears to thrive on it.The sole time TKS 2 redeems itself is a token reference to Indian Muslims like former President of India, late APJ Abdul Kalam, and artists, which comes up later in the second half.

Performance-wise, the girls, Ulka, Aishwarya and Aditi, combined with their respective perpetrators, deliver exactly as the makers wished. The music by Mannan Shaah and Rahul Suhaas doesn’t contribute much here. The background score, again by Mannan, is deafening, to say the least.

Overall, The Kerala Story 2 is less a film and more a thesis delivered at high decibel. It is not interested in complexity. Instead, it chooses caricatures and alarm. Whether one agrees with its politics or not, what is undeniable is that nuance is sacrificed at the altar of impact. And when outrage becomes the aim, the medium suffers as much as the message.