Kerala Story 2: Goes Beyond, Cast, Budget, Box Office, Reviews, And More

Kerala Story 2: Goes Beyond is a Hindi-language drama film, and the sequel to The Kerala Story, released in 2023. It was theatrically released on 27 February 2026, following a final minute legal battle by the Kerala High Court. Although the initial stay was lifted by the Division Bench of the court in the morning of its release date, the movie hit the theatres as one of the most discussed and controversial Hindi releases of the year.

The film, directed by Kamakhya Narayan Singh, produced by Vipul Amrutlal Shah and under the Sunshine pictures direction, adheres to the same theme as the predecessor. It makes the story spread out to various Indian states, as opposed to just a few places, and traces the lives of three young women whose relationships get them into harmful and challenging situations.

Kerala Story Overview

Connection With The Kerala Story (2023)

The Kerala Story (2023) is an original film that was directed by Sudipto Sen and produced by Vipul Amrutlal Shah. It alleged to be a portrayal of the so-called radicalization and trafficking of Kerala women. The film, which premiered on 5 May 2023, is one of the highest-grossing Hindi films of 2023, grossing more than 15 times its production budget although it has been banned in some states and is controversial on political grounds.

The Kerala Story was nominated and received two awards at the 71st National Film Awards in August 2025, one of which is the Best Director award to Sudipto Sen. That acknowledgment brought back the attention of the masses to the franchise and put it in the national news not long before the sequel was released. Sudipto Sen never came back to direct a sequel as he decided to work on his next film, Charak Fair of Faith. Director Kamakhya Narayan Singh brought this sequel forward, with the original producer, Vipul Amrutlal Shah remaining in the same position.

It is also interesting to mention that the sequel bears the franchise name, and has similar core thematic issues, but it is an independent story, with a different cast and increased geographical range. It is not the sequel of the same characters of the first film.

Plot Summary Of Kerala Story 2

The Kerala Story 2: Goes Beyond is a continuation of the story of three young women living in various locations across India whose personal life is dangerous after they get into relationships which make them forced into coercion, control and so-called forced religious conversion.

It is established in Madhya Pradesh in the first thread. A young Hindu woman is introduced to what seems to be a relationship and marriage, only to discover that she is being forced into a religious conversion which is not her choice. The second story is in Kerala, a Hindu female has a relationship with a Muslim man who insists on her to live with him. The situation becomes violent when she stands up to refusing to renounce her religious identity. The third narrative is of Surekha whose situation goes hand-in-hand with that of the two other women whose situations demonstrate how comparable methods of manipulation and domination are executed in various social settings.

The story was created in six to seven months of research which included researching in Indian court documents as suggested by producer Vipul Amrutlal Shah. The movie introduces these stories as interrelated instances of a greater problem, and continues the social-commentary of the original film.

Cast Of Kerala Story 2

The cast below has been verified by the official sources.  This is the first theatrical production by Aditi Bhatia, who has been working in the TV series Yeh Hai Mohabbatein since its inception.

Production House And Producer

Under the Sunshine pictures, the film is made by Vipul Amrutlal Shah and Aashin A. Shah. The producer of the original 2023 film is the same, Vipul Amrutlal Shah. He has also made it known publicly that the sequel is founded on a six to seven-month research, which involves a review of Indian court files involving the cases mentioned in it.

Amarnath Jha and Vipul Amrutlal Shah are the writers of the screenplay. The movie has been produced on a stringent budget and it is reported that the cost of production budgeted was in the range of Rs. 28 to 30 crore, but this is yet to be officially verified by the makers.

Soundtrack And Music

Mannan Shaah, Rahul Suhas and Santosh Nair compose the music of the film. It was written by Vishal Mishra and released on 4 February 2026 and was the first song of the movie to be sung by Vishal Mishra, before the theatrical release of the film. The music is rather subtle in its approach, as the film itself is a rather serious movie, with music serving to enhance the drama and not as a commercial aspect.

Movie Budget Of Kerala Story 2

Sunshine Pictures has not revealed the official budget on production. According to industry estimates and media guesstwork, the movie is estimated to have been produced on a budget of about Rs. 28 to 30 crore. Assuming this is true, the movie did earn back its estimated budget in the theatres. But as this number is not officially established then it should be regarded as an industry estimate and not a fixed number.

Box Office Collection

The Kerala Story 2: Goes Beyond had a total net collection of around Rs and was in the theater until the end of its theatrical run. 42.10 crore in India box office. The movie premiered on 27 February 2026, and recorded the highest figures during its first few weeks until Week 4, when Dhurandhar 2: The Revenge also opened in theatres and competed with the movie.

According to reported estimates of the budget in terms of rupees. The film has made it through its estimated cost of production due to its strong commercial profitability (28 to 30 crore). The initial Kerala Story was given a much bigger box office, claimed to have earned more than Rs. 300 crore. The performance of the sequel though it is humble when compared to the other movies is considered by trade observers as a success due to the fact that it had a controlled budget and the magnitude of its production.

Rating

The mainstream film critics gave the film mixed-to-negative reviews. The IMDb rating is 5.3 out of 10 on more than 4,700 votes (as of April 2026) representing a split review.

ABP News (Amit Bhatia) — 2.5 / 5: Stated that he was impressed by the performances, but he said that the movie is a serviceable but uneven follow-up with less production values and farfetched scenes.

Free Press Journal (Satish Sundaresan) 2.5 / 5: good performances, direction and editing; felt the first half was slow.

Rediff.com (Divya Nair) 2.5 / 5: Loved the performances, but thought that they were watered down with heavy-handed messages.

Hindustan Times (Rishabh Suri) 2/5: Called the movie more of a sensationalised piece of writing that was not a nuanced one.

Firstpost (Vinamra Mathur) 2 / 5: described it as a weak drama that was more of a noise than a coherent drama.

The reaction of the audience has been more split. There were other viewers who found the film to be a good social drama that poses significant questions and some believed the film was biased in the manner it was done. Its themes generated a lot of controversy and were a major source of interest and initial attendance by the population.

Legal Controversy Surrounding The Release

It was the source of a major legal battle, before the film could come out. A petitioner called Sreedev Namboodiri, had petitioned the Kerala High Court challenging the certification of the film by CBFC claiming that its promotional material might create disturbance in communal harmony and create a false impression that the film is a part of the state of Kerala.

The Kerala High Court ordered a screening of the film to the court on 25 February 2026 by the makers. A one judge bench on 26 February allowed an interim stay of the release. The producers instantly took recourse to appeal and the Division Bench of the court sat down to a special sitting. In the morning of 27 February 2026 – the designated release date – the Division Bench lifted the interim stay and the film was released as scheduled. The legal actions concerning the digital rights were still in progress at the theatrical premiere, and the date when the OTT will be officially announced was not revealed yet, as of early 2026.

Conclusion

The Kerala Story 2: Goes Beyond came as one of the most controversial Hindi releases in the beginning of 2026. It inherited the burden of the controversy of its predecessor, a last minute High Court injunction, and a highly polarised popular debate on its topic. The movie had a commercial audience, and ended its theatrical life-span at Rs. 42 crore and being reimbursed its estimated budget. Importantly, it was generally met with fairly mediocre-to-negative reviews even though performances were throughout reported as a strength.

Whether the film is considered to be a valuable social document or a divisive narrative, it is evident that it had an audience that was eager to listen to its topic – which, in the movie, is a commercially relevant result, considering the film is a mid-budget drama with no big stars.

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