New Delhi: As controversy swirls around The Kerala Story 2, the state tourism board chose irony over outrage to take a jibe at the upcoming movie, whose trailer showed a young Hindu woman being force-fed beef by her ‘evil’ Muslim in-laws.
The Kerala Tourism Development Corporation shared a post on its social media platform, with the words, ‘No beef with anyone. That’s our recipe for happiness’. The image shows a local man and a foreign traveller, smiling at each other and holding a glass of coffee, against a picturesque background. The post is captioned, ‘Love, harmony and hearts big enough for everyone. Welcome to God’s Own Country’.
The post has since gone viral, with people sharing their favourite beef combos and recipes on their posts. Some have also taken digs at North Indians for speaking out against eating beef.
One social media user shared an image of beef with porotta—a popular combo in Kerala—and wrote, ‘I wish my brothers in North India tried Beef fry instead of Cow dung.’
While some have argued about pork not being eaten by Muslims to counter the post, most responses have lauded the page for putting up the post.
To hit theatres before state polls
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan Thursday issued a strongly worded statement, condemning The Kerala Story 2, which is slated to hit the theatres on 27 February. The trailer, released earlier this week, claims to be based on true events and shows the plight of girls trapped in forced conversion cases.
“The release of a second part of The Kerala Story, which was made with the agenda of spreading hatred against Kerala and insulting our secular traditions, should be seen seriously,” Vijayan said in the statement.
The film’s trailer opens with a warning: India will become an Islamic state in the next 25 years. Directed by Kamakhya Narayan Singh and produced by Vipul Amrutlal Shah, the sequel to The Kerala Story (2023) shows three women—from Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Kerala—being lured by Muslim men to marry and then forced to convert.
One scene in the trailer shows the Hindu woman in Kerala kicking away a plate of beef, declaring, “Will starve to death but will never eat beef,” only to be force-fed by her tormentors.
The prequel was released in Kerala in April 2024, ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. The second part will be released ahead of the Assembly elections in the state this year.
Also read: Does The Kerala Story 2 show God’s Own Country as centre of terrorism? Pinarayi Vijayan says so
Censorship and criticism
Kerala is one of the top beef-consuming states in India, where Malayalis, irrespective of caste and religion, enjoy delicacies prepared with meat. Around 14.34 lakh heads of cattle (1,53,000 tonnes) were slaughtered in Kerala in 2020-21 for meat—an increase of 1.8 lakh from 2018. Pork consumption also grew in the state, doubling from around 98,000 (7,000 tonnes) in 2018 to 2,07,000 (14,000 tonnes) in 20-21, according to a report by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.
But in recent years, eating beef has faced criticism and even censorship.
In 2025, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry denied censor exemption certificates to 19 films, including Beef, and Palestinian films like Palestine 36, All That’s Left of You, and Wajib, as well as Sergei Eisenstein’s 1925 classic Battleship Potemkin.
“They did not give permission for the movie BEEF. Why? Because for them, beef has only one meaning. But the film was not related to the beef we eat. It is based on Spanish hip-hop culture, where ‘beef’ refers to conflict or rebellion,” Vijayan had said in response to CFBC’s decision in 2025.
In another instance, the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) asked the makers of the Malayalam film Haal for 15 cuts, including scenes of beef consumption. The film, starring Shane Nigam, shows an interfaith relationship between a Muslim man and a Christian woman.
The makers eventually removed the scene of eating beef from the film, after the Kerala High Court’s direction. It was released on 25 December last year.
(Edited by Saptak Datta)