The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected last-minute efforts to halt the release of the controversial movie The Kerala Story, saying: “Leave it to the market, if the film is good people will watch it, otherwise not.”

The court declined the plea of senior advocate Huzefa Ahmadi, appearing for some Muslim petitioners who fear the film, scheduled to release this Friday, would create ill will against the community. The film purports to show that girls in Kerala are being forcibly converted and recruited by the Islamic State.

“A filmmaker invests a lot of money and time in making a film. The actors too put in a lot of work,” Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud remarked. “Think about the labour of actors. You must be very careful about staying films. The market will decide if it is not up to the mark.”

“Look at the filmmaker. He can’t be made to face courts across India for the release of his film. Kerala High Court had applied its mind while refusing interim relief of staying the film’s release,” the bench headed by CJI Chandrachud said. The bench noted that the petitioner had already approached the bench of Justices K.M. Joseph and B.V. Nagarathna, which earlier this week directed that the matter be adjudicated before Kerala High Court.