The Girlfriend director defends fan replicating Rashmika’s dupatta scene

Rahul Ravindran clarified that the moment involving a young fan was spontaneous, not staged. He also questioned societal biases about cultural expressions.

Actor-director Rahul Ravindran ’s romantic drama The Girlfriend , starring Rashmika Mandanna and Dheekshith Shetty, released in cinemas on November 7. The film opened to mixed reviews from critics but received a largely positive response from audiences. Recently, a video of a young girl recreating Rashmika’s look from the film, and later removing her dupatta after the screening (like Rashmika does in the climax), surfaced online, prompting widespread speculation about whether it was a PR stunt. Now, the film’s director has responded.

In the video in question, the young girl tells Rahul after the screening, “My friends and I came