THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In what is being celebrated as the real Kerala story by many on social media, Monalisa Bhosle, who shot to fame during the Mahakumbh Mela 2025 in Prayagraj, married her partner in the state after facing stiff opposition from her family.
Indore native Monalisa, who went viral after a video of her selling rudraksha beads at the 2025 Kumbh Mela was widely circulated online, married her partner Farman Khan, 25, a native of Uttar Pradesh, at Sree Nainar Temple in Arumanoor near Poovar in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday.
Expressing solidarity with the couple, many political leaders, including CPM state secretary M V Govindan, Education Minister V Sivankutty and CPM MP A A Rahim, attended the wedding.
Monalisa had travelled to Kerala for the shoot of a film in Poovar in which she was acting and Farman was the lead. They got close during the shoot.
However, Monalisa’s family strongly objected to their relationship, as they wanted her to marry another man, who was a relative, in their native place.
Having decided to tie the knot, the couple approached the Thampanoor police on Wednesday morning seeking protection. The police officers informed the family that Monalisa was 18 years of age and free to live with the person of her choice. With the issue resolved, the couple went ahead with wedding.
Farman has been living in Aluva for about a year, acting and assisting in Tamil and Malayalam short film projects, said the police.
Farman said they met while acting together in a film and started talking to each other. “Monalisa proposed first. I initially rejected it but she insisted and we eventually decided to marry. We realised people in Kerala are kind. That is why we chose to get married here,” he said.
“Her father was against our relationship but the people here gave us a lot of love and support. We feel very happy. If everything goes well, we will try to continue our life here,” said Farman. Monalisa said her marriage was fixed with another person in her native place but she had refused the proposal.
“This wedding is the real Kerala Story,” Sivankutty told reporters. “People of Kerala can be proud as our land is known across the world for secularism and love for humanity. Thousands of people elsewhere live under pressure. This incident proves Kerala is a place where such freedom exists,” he said.
Govindan said the marriage should be seen as the decision of two free individuals. He pointed out that the couple, natives of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, chose Kerala as their place of marriage.
“The ceremony was held at a temple established by Sree Narayana Guru. Just as Guru said, whatever the religion, it is humans who must be good. Humanity must be upheld. This couple is following that path. The people of Kerala support them. This is the real Kerala Story and the epitome of secularism. As a society we felt it was our responsibility to support and congratulate them,” he said.
Rahim said the marriage showed Kerala’s social ethos. “Inter-religious marriages are something people in many other parts of the country cannot even think about. Kerala’s strength is that such marriages can be held naturally here,” he said.