Malayalam actress Navya Nair fined ₹1.14 lakh at Melbourne Airport for carrying...

Malayalam actress Navya Nair was recently fined a total of 1.14 lakh at the Melbourne airport. She was fined because she was carrying a 15 cm long gajra for Onam celebrations, and she was fined due to Australia's strict biosecurity rules. Navya had travelled to Australia to take part in the Onam celebrations organised by the Malayali Association of Victoria; that's when she was stopped at the airport by the officials. She recalled that incident at an event and then explained that her father had gifted her the gajra before the journey.

She explained that he had divided it into two parts for the two legs of her journey, one during the Kochi-Singapore leg of her trip and the other to keep in her handbag for later.

"What I did was against the law. It was a mistake I made unknowingly. However, ignorance is no excuse. For carrying a 15 cm jasmine string, officials asked me to pay a fine of AUD 1,980 within 28 days. A mistake is a mistake, though it was not intentional," Navya said at the event.

Australia is known to follow one of the strictest biosecurity rules to prevent the country from pests and diseases, and undeclared plant material is strictly prohibited.

Navya took the trip in good spirits and shared on Instagram a video of herself all dressed beautifully for the Onam event. She captioned the video, "A show-off right before paying the fine."

She shared some more glimpses from her trip and captioned, "First-ever Thiruvonam in the skies! Though I miss being in naadu, carrying the spirit of Onam with me is a joy of its own. Work calls - and that too is another happiness. ? Onboard Singapore Airlines... Melbourne, here I come."

Who is Navya Nair and what is she famous for?

Navya Nair is a popular Malayalam actress who's loved for her work in the industry. She made her debut with Ishtam and rose to fame soon after that with her expressive performances and natural screen presence. She won critical acclaim with Nandanam (2002), which then got her the Kerala State Film Award for Best Actress. She's known for her work in both Tamil and Kannada cinema.