Let’s rate this U, for Uncomplicated: Deepanjana Pal on the Telugu film The Girlfriend
The fuss over the new Rashmika Mandanna movie is baffling. She’s only playing a woman who wants some rather ordinary things.
When Rahul Ravindran’s new Telugu film, The Girlfriend, was released in theatres earlier this month, the online chatter made it seem like an explosively provocative movie.
“It’s feminist propaganda”, “Himmat hai to apni girlfriend ko saath leke movie dekho (Watch it with your girlfriend if you have the guts)” and “No sense, just pure feminist emotion” were some of the comments online.
Imagine my surprise when I watched it and discovered that Rashmika Mandanna, who headlines the film, doesn’t play a virago on a manhunt. Her Bhooma is a good, wholesome young woman without even the shock value of the recently released Bad Girl, Varsha Bharath’s impressive directorial debut.
Bad Girl’s heroine Ramya (played by Anjali Sivaraman) is characterised by an unflagging libido that has raised eyebrows and tempers, both on screen and off. She longs for a steady, loving boyfriend, but puts pleasure and self-respect first. This upset many conservatives, who don’t like hearing talk like this (unless it’s coming from a man).
Bhooma and Ramya, for all the fuss, are just regular women navigating everyday life. The challenges they face are relatable to millions.
In popular cinema, the hero takes on the system through increasingly dramatic stunts and shows of brute force. It’s interesting that heroines can still rattle audiences simply by stating their rather ordinary plans for rather ordinary lives. Why is it that this alone is considered “anti-establishment” and “heroic”?
Bhooma’s first act of quiet rebellion in The Girlfriend is to enrol in college, which finally places her outside her domineering father’s reach. There, she meets Vikram (played by a brilliant Dheekshith Shetty), who is something of a ringleader on campus. Before Bhooma can blink twice, he plants a kiss on her and declares her his girlfriend. The walls then steadily close in on her as he tries to take over her life.
A friend told me she had to walk out of The Girlfriend halfway. “I felt like if I watched her get railroaded by Vicky any longer, I’d have a panic attack,” she said. “Tell me she gets out at the end?”
Bhooma does eventually snap, but the jury’s out on whether the climax feels satisfying. It’s a relief to see her hit back, though the punches don’t seem hard enough.
Shetty is pitch-perfect as the bratty and abusive Vikram; Mandanna delivers a career-best performance as Bhooma; and Anu Emmanuel is charming as the femme fatale Durga. Despite its unevenness and rough edges, the film feels like an antidote to the plague of machismo that has taken over Indian popular cinema of late.
Watching Mandanna play Bhooma is particularly satisfying. The success of the two Pushpa films (2021 and 2024), Animal (2023) and Chhaava (2025) have made her one of the biggest names in Hindi and Telugu cinema. The Girlfriend is everything those blockbusters are not. It gives top billing to a woman, prioritises internal conflict, and tussles with toxic masculinity and misogyny. The film is a reminder of how charismatic Mandanna can be when given more to do than play a passive love interest. Bhooma is Mandanna’s rebellion, and that is really satisfying too.
(To reach out with feedback, write to @dpanjana on Instagram. The views expressed are personal)
When Rahul Ravindran’s new Telugu film, The Girlfriend, was released in theatres earlier this month, the online chatter made it seem like an explosively provocative movie.
“It’s feminist propaganda”, “Himmat hai to apni girlfriend ko saath leke movie dekho (Watch it with your girlfriend if you have the guts)” and “No sense, just pure feminist emotion” were some of the comments online.
Imagine my surprise when I watched it and discovered that Rashmika Mandanna, who headlines the film, doesn’t play a virago on a manhunt. Her Bhooma is a good, wholesome young woman without even the shock value of the recently released Bad Girl, Varsha Bharath’s impressive directorial debut.
Bad Girl’s heroine Ramya (played by Anjali Sivaraman) is characterised by an unflagging libido that has raised eyebrows and tempers, both on screen and off. She longs for a steady, loving boyfriend, but puts pleasure and self-respect first. This upset many conservatives, who don’t like hearing talk like this (unless it’s coming from a man).
Bhooma and Ramya, for all the fuss, are just regular women navigating everyday life. The challenges they face are relatable to millions.
In popular cinema, the hero takes on the system through increasingly dramatic stunts and shows of brute force. It’s interesting that heroines can still rattle audiences simply by stating their rather ordinary plans for rather ordinary lives. Why is it that this alone is considered “anti-establishment” and “heroic”?
Bhooma’s first act of quiet rebellion in The Girlfriend is to enrol in college, which finally places her outside her domineering father’s reach. There, she meets Vikram (played by a brilliant Dheekshith Shetty), who is something of a ringleader on campus. Before Bhooma can blink twice, he plants a kiss on her and declares her his girlfriend. The walls then steadily close in on her as he tries to take over her life.
A friend told me she had to walk out of The Girlfriend halfway. “I felt like if I watched her get railroaded by Vicky any longer, I’d have a panic attack,” she said. “Tell me she gets out at the end?”
Bhooma does eventually snap, but the jury’s out on whether the climax feels satisfying. It’s a relief to see her hit back, though the punches don’t seem hard enough.
Shetty is pitch-perfect as the bratty and abusive Vikram; Mandanna delivers a career-best performance as Bhooma; and Anu Emmanuel is charming as the femme fatale Durga. Despite its unevenness and rough edges, the film feels like an antidote to the plague of machismo that has taken over Indian popular cinema of late.
Watching Mandanna play Bhooma is particularly satisfying. The success of the two Pushpa films (2021 and 2024), Animal (2023) and Chhaava (2025) have made her one of the biggest names in Hindi and Telugu cinema. The Girlfriend is everything those blockbusters are not. It gives top billing to a woman, prioritises internal conflict, and tussles with toxic masculinity and misogyny. The film is a reminder of how charismatic Mandanna can be when given more to do than play a passive love interest. Bhooma is Mandanna’s rebellion, and that is really satisfying too.
(To reach out with feedback, write to @dpanjana on Instagram. The views expressed are personal)
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