Why Kannada social media is baying for a ban on Rashmika Mandanna films

Rashmika Mandanna, one of the top heroines in the South film industry, is making her mark in Bollywood as well. However, the actor is often trolled on the internet. The trolls are mostly from Karnataka, her home state and the place she debuted from. 

Per social media speculation, theatre owners, activist organisations and the Kannada film industry may soon take action against Rashmika for disrespecting seniors in the Kannada film industry, and may even ban her films permanently.

Rashmika Mandanna is currently part of two big films that will see a grand release in Karnataka. She has Varisu with Vijay in Tamil and Pushpa 2 with Allu Arjun. There are huge expectations from both these releases and banning her films in Karnataka might have a huge impact on the producers. 

Banning Rashmika’s films will, however, not be easy and demanding a ban is nothing but hypocritical. 

What stirred the trolls

All along, she has been trolled by various sections of society, thanks primarily to her interviews. It is no different this time round. In a recent conversation with popular YouTube Channel Curly Tales, the actor was asked about her entry into films. Rashmika said she had no interest in acting but one of her modelling assignments got her a call from a ‘so called production house’ and her film journey began.

For the uninitiated, Rashmika made her debut opposite Rakshit Shetty. The production house was Paramvah Studios co-founded by Rakshit. The film, Kirik Party, went on to become a blockbuster and Rashmika became an overnight star in Kannada.

During the making of the film, Rashmika and Rakshit fell in love and got engaged. However, the couple had some issues and the engagement was called off. Soon, Rashmika’s career graph grew stronger and with each passing film, she became a household name in South India.

‘Air quotes created a stir’

In her interview, Rashmika refrained from naming the production house that gave her a big break. In fact, she used her fingers to make air quotes and called Paramvah Studios a so-called production house.

Also Read: Time to spread my wings and teach myself: Rashmika Mandanna

This gesture irked a lot of netizens and Rakshit Shetty fans. They felt that she was being ungrateful and disrespectful to seniors in the industry and to those who gave her a break in films. Rashmika might have had her reasons to not name Paramvah Studios, but that has not gone down well with netizens and movie lovers in Karnataka. Soon, she became a target of social media trolls.

Meanwhile, Rishab Shetty, the director and hero of the blockbuster film Kantara, added fuel to the fire in one of his interviews. Asked whom he would like to work with, he was given four options — Rashmika Mandanna, Samantha Prabhu, Sai Pallavi and Keerthy Suresh. Samantha and Sai Pallavi, said Rishab. He said he does not prefer (makes air quotes) “such actors” — in an obvious dig at Rashmika.

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Rishab’s gesture gave a big boost to trolls who edited both the videos and started circulating them online, claiming that Rishab had given it back to Rashmika. Rishab is not only a good friend of Rakshit Shetty but was also the director of Kirik Party.

Viral tweet

Soon, a tweet by a Hyderabad based Twitter account which goes by the handle @DailyCultureYT became viral. The tweet read: “News from Karnataka that Kannada Theatre Owners, Organizations and Film Industry will soon take action against #RashmikaMandanna !!! They may go to the extent of banning @iamRashmika’s films permanently from #Karnataka. Worrying thing for #PushpaTheRule and #Varisu Teams.” 

The post was retweeted over 500 times and the media went berserk over the ‘news’. Social media and electronic media in Karnataka carried the news and made it into a big controversy.

However, the truth is that nobody from the film chamber or the producers’ association have called for a ban on the actor. Sources in the industry say that it has become a fad for certain sections of fans and people in the film industry to announce a ban on actors, especially female stars, as they are assumed to be vulnerable.

Kantara controversy

Rashmika had also become a target of trolls earlier in November when she revealed that she had not watched Kantara, which had weaved magic across the country. She could have gotten away without answering the question on the film, but chose to answer it, even if it meant that it would hurt the sentiments of certain sections of the society.

Also Read: KGF, Kantara effect: Kannada cinema plots unexplored territories

There are several other heroines who were born and raised in Karnataka and made a name for themselves in other industries who have openly said that they are yet to watch Kantara. Trolling Rashmika for saying that is nothing but hypocritical.

Rashmika not first to face ban threat

Rashmika is not the first heroine who has been unofficially threatened of getting banned in Karnataka. Aindrita Ray, Nikita Thukral and Ramya faced a similar issue earlier. 

Aindrita was threatened for being late to the sets, Nikita for allegedly having an extra-marital affair with challenging star Darshan and Ramya for crossing swords with a producer over non-payment of remuneration. While the threats made news, none of the threats affected any of these heroines.

Industry insiders say that sections of the society feel that Rashmika betrayed Rakshit Shetty by calling off her engagement. There are others who feel that certain Kannada film producers and associations are unable to digest the fact that she has become such a huge star in other southern languages and the Hindi film industry.

The Federal got in touch with Rashmika’s manager to get her reaction on the issue, but was informed that the Goodbye actor is abroad on a personal trip. As of now, there is no official ban on Rashmika from any organisation and it will be interesting to see how Rashmika reacts to the news when she tours Karnataka during promotions of her upcoming films.