Director Rahul Ravindran shared an enlightening moment where Rashmika Mandanna reacted passionately to his film ‘The Girlfriend.’ A few days before the premiere, she expressed her belief in its empowering message for women everywhere. Ravindran fondly referred to her as ‘headlight eyes’ due to her captivating performance as Bhooma, a character torn by intense emotional struggles.
Rashmika Mandanna starrer ‘The Girlfriend’ has been released in theatres and is receiving a positive response from the audience. The film’s director, Rahul Ravindran, has now opened up about what the actress’ reaction was when they were making the film. The filmmaker also revealed the name he has coined for the actress.
Rahul Ravindran talks about Rashmika Mandanna’s reaction to the film
In an interview with the Hollywood Reporter India, Rahul shared what Rashmika said after reading the script. The filmmaker stated that he wrote the movie from a place of “second-hand empathy.” Recalling what the actress said, Rahul revealed, “Rashmika kept telling me when we were making this film, ‘You don’t know what you’re making. You don’t realize what you’re making and how much it is going to move and speak to women.”
Rahul reveals the name he has coined for Rashmika
In the same interview, Rahul stated that as a filmmaker, he wants to tell stories with mainstream actors to reach a wider audience. However, he added that he would not just go with such an actor for the sake of it. He said, “When I’m writing characters, I have a clear sense of what kind of eyes I want my actors to have.”Ravindran said that for the character Bhooma, who faces a lot of internal struggle, he “needed a woman with extremely transparent eyes.” He added, “I call Rashmika ‘headlight eyes.’ She just flew with Bhooma, and I’m just so proud of her.”
More about ‘The Girlfriend’
The movie features Rashmika Mandanna, Dheekshith Shetty, and Anu Emmanuel. The filmmaker has also made an appearance in the movie. Apart from this, it also stars Rao Ramesh and Rohini Molleti.The film was released in theatres on November 7, 2025.
