Bangalore: A Kerala college student who sells fish by the roadside in Ernakulam to fund her education and support her family was hounded by social media trolls after a filmmaker offered the 19-year-old a role in his upcoming movie.

The trolls were nowhere to be seen all these years when Hanan, a third-year student of chemistry, struggled to make ends meet while supporting her mentally unstable mother and a younger brother.

The moment director Arun Gopy offered her a small role in his upcoming film featuring Pranav, son of actor Mohanlal, the trolls started trashing the fish-selling story as a publicity stunt to sell the movie.

Hundreds of abusive messages have been posted on Gopy's Facebook page countering Hanan's story.

But the filmmaker has been unwavering in his support and said he would never back out of his promise to cast the spirited teen.

"This is another form of mob lynching as the controversy has no basis at all," Gopy told Malayalam channels on Thursday.

"Come what may, she will act in my movie," he said, adding that he wouldn't have known about Hanan but for a recent news report.

"I wanted to make use of her in dubbing since she has moonlighted as a dubbing artiste. But when I called her, she said she would like to act," he said.

K.M. Mijaz, managing director of Al Azhar College of Arts and Science, confirmed Hanan's background. "She comes from a very poor family and does all kinds of odd jobs to make ends meet. She often works with event management firms handling weddings and I have seen her serving water at a wedding," he said.

Hanan's father had abandoned the family after losing all his money in failed small businesses and turning alcoholic.

Mijaz said he had often overlooked Hanan's outstanding fees and let her take her exams.

With the trolls continuing their attack, posting Hanan's pictures with actors like Mohanlal and claiming that she lied about her financial woes, the teen explained why she had been able to pose with actors.

"On a few occasions I have often worked as a junior artiste, including a momentary part in a Mohanlal song sequence," Hanan told reporters.

It was Kalabhavan Mani, the late actor, who had helped Hanan first by giving her small parts in his stage shows.

"He was a great help. But after he died I had to stick to whatever came my way. But since none of these brought a regular income, I depended on selling fish after classes," she said.

Originally from Thrissur, Hanan now lives with her ailing mother and brother in a rented house in Ernakulam and travels more than two hours to attend classes in Thodupuzha in Idukki. She sells fish by the roadside in Thammanam, a suburb in Ernakulam, for a few hours from 5.30pm and then cycles back home.

"People now call me a liar. I'm a girl from a poor family struggling to make a living. My woes began when I was just seven years old. Since then I have done things like making bead chains to sell in my school and did all kinds of part-time jobs to take care of my family," she said between sobs.

M.C. Josephine, chairperson of the Kerala Women's Commission, said she would meet Hanan soon.

"The girl who sells fish to support her family needs to be lauded and not abused," she said.

On Friday, the Kerala government came out in support of Hanan, with chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan ordering police to act against the trolls, a PTI report said. He has also asked the Ernakulam collector to provide adequate protection to Hanan.

Vijayan shared a picture of Hanan selling fish in her college uniform on his Facebook page and said he was "feeling proud of her".