Recently, the industry has turned a critical eye toward the rise of right-wing nationalism, religious extremism, and Hindutva politics, which are traditionally seen as alien to Kerala’s secular left-leaning identity. Films like One (2021) starring Mammootty as a dying Chief Minister fighting the RSS, or Jaya Jaya Jaya Jaya Hey (2022) attacking patriarchal conformity, show an industry unafraid to take sides. More controversially, The Kerala Story (2023, though not a Malayalam film but Hindi, sparked debates) forced the local industry to confront allegations of conversion and radicalization, leading to counter-narratives like Kandahar .