At a recent promotional gathering for the film ‘Dude,’ audience reactions took an unexpected turn when actor Pradeep Ranganathan and co-star Mamitha Baiju reprised a gripping scene from the trailer. His exuberant antics, which included affectionately tugging at her cheeks and hair, became a lightning rod for controversy online, with critics denouncing it as harassment.
Pradeep Ranganathan and Mamitha Baiju are currently busy with the promotions of their upcoming film Dude. Amid this, a video of them from a promotional event went viral online, with the male lead facing backlash over his actions. The clip is from the Hyderabad event. Here’s what happened.
Internet reacts as Pradeep and Mamitha recreate a trailer scene at an event
During the Hyderabad event, Pradeep Ranganathan tried to recreate a scene from the film’s trailer with Mamitha Baiju on stage. In the movie, the scene shows the actress’ character annoying the male lead, who tells her it’s “not cute.”At the event, the roles were reversed: Pradeep tried to pull Mamitha’s cheeks to irritate her and even tugged at her hair. After the enactment, the actress appeared calm and thanked Pradeep for being a “wonderful co-star.” However, the audience reaction was divided.One social media user wrote, “I’m sure she regrets doing a movie with him.” Another commented, “Harassment in the name of promotions.” Others added, “This is so disgusting,” and “Doesn’t look cute at all.” On Reddit, users wrote, “Creepy and annoying guy, I feel bad for her,” and, “Deranged promotion tactics — this is not even cute.”
Some defend Pradeep
However, several people defended the actor, saying he was simply reenacting a scene from the film. One user wrote, “They are just recreating the scene from Dude trailer with the genders reversed.”
Mamitha Baiju praises Pradeep
At the same event, Mamitha thanked Ranganathan for the “support” and “space” he gave her during filming. She said, “It makes Dude special for me. Getting into the Tamil industry or acting in Tamil was a bit difficult, but you made it easier.”Meanwhile, Dude is scheduled to hit theatres on October 17, 2025.
