From Yodha to Bastar The Naxal Story, must-watch films releasing this week in cinemas

The Kerala Story director Sudipto Sen has a new diatribe, this one broader in scope and steeped even deeper in conspiracy theories.

The most non-partisan statement in Sen’s Bastar – The Naxal Story comes early in the film: the opening credits advise caution because of its “unsettling images”. Minutes later, a villager in Chhattisgarh who has defied the diktat of Maoist insurgents and saluted the tricolour is hacked into pieces. Bloody visuals and sickening sounds underscore the ruthlessness of the Maoists, whom the movie compares to the Islamic State and Boko Haram.

The central concern of the screenplay by Sen, Amarnath Jha and Vipul Shah is the Supreme Court’s ban on the Salwa Judum militia, which was supported by the Chhattisgarh government to fight Naxalism. Founded in 2005 by politician Mahendra Karma – called Rajendra Karma in the film – Salwa Judum was disbanded in 2011 after numerous accusations that its members acted arbitrarily and being involved in criminal activities.