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New Delhi: Actor Adah Sharma has opened up about her journey after the success of The Kerala Story, addressing the reactions, criticism, and overwhelming public response that followed the film’s explosive release. In an exclusive conversation with TV9 English’s Vanshika Singh, the actor discussed how the film reshaped her career, the responsibility she felt while portraying Shalini Unnikrishnan, and why she refuses to dwell on who supported her publicly.
The film, released in 2023, positioned Adah at the centre of a national conversation. Her portrayal of Shalini, a young woman coerced into religious conversion and eventually trafficked into an ISIS camp, was described as raw and emotionally charged. Critics may have been divided, but audiences embraced her performance with remarkable passion. Many viewers even insisted she deserved a National Award for the role.
Recalling the public reaction, Adah explained that the impact of the film was far bigger than industry validation. “I think it’s so sad that as humans we find something to cry about. I’m in a movie that has become the highest-grossing movie of all time in India. That’s huge,” she said. She added that beyond box-office numbers, it was the emotional connection with audiences that stayed with her. “Mothers look at me with tears in their eyes, almost like I’m back from Syria,” she shared, describing how deeply viewers responded to Shalini’s story.
She also addressed the long-standing question of whether she felt sidelined by the industry due to the film’s political controversy. Adah dismissed the idea, emphasising that many insiders reached out privately to congratulate her. “A lot of people from the industry called to congratulate me and now I’m doing so many films that they are making, so giving me films is appreciating my art,” she said, adding that she felt “eternally grateful” for the opportunities that came her way.
The actor was also asked whether the success of The Kerala Story made her feel like she was being treated as a performer or as a symbolic movement. Adah responded with her characteristic calm: “I love that it’s different for different people. The Kerala Story rewrote history and has a woman leading the film that has broken so many records and touched so many hearts. It paves the way for many films with a female protagonist being made.”
Adah, who debuted with the horror hit 1920 in 2008, has since built a career defined by versatility and resilience. But with The Kerala Story, she stepped into a space that merged cinema with social impact.
