Rashmika and Vijay Push Back on Online Trolling

Rashmika Mandanna has become one of Indian cinema’s most visible young stars — and, for some online, one of its easiest targets. In a YouTube conversation with Keerthi, she addressed the steady stream of comments about her expressions, mannerisms and overall personality. Her position is simple: the cheerful, warm energy people see is genuine, and she does not plan to tune it down for anyone’s approval.

Why she will not rewrite herself

The actor accepted that no public figure can be liked by everyone. “Not everyone is everyone’s cup of tea,” she said. But she rejected the idea of creating a separate, toned-down version of herself just to escape criticism. “I can’t fake it to make someone happy,” she told the chat.

For Mandanna, this is not defensiveness — it is a values call. She said she wants to choose kindness because there is already enough negativity circulating. “Even if people call that overacting, it’s fine,” she said. That line matters, because what is often dismissed as overacting in a persona is, in her telling, simply how she moves through the world.

Vijay Deverakonda sees a manufactured game

Vijay Deverakonda, part of the same conversation, offered a sharper diagnosis. He argued that much of the trolling aimed at actors and politicians is “manufactured.” His logic: strong opinions about someone’s personality usually require actually meeting or spending time with that person. Without that contact, the outrage is often less personal than it looks.

That framing gives fans a useful lens. It does not mean every critical comment is coordinated or fake; it means the speed and volume of online pile-ons can feel outsized compared with what anyone actually knows about a star off-screen.

The pressure behind the smile

Female actors in particular often face a double bind: be warm enough to seem grateful, but not so animated that it reads as fake. Mandanna’s answer sidesteps that trap by making the warmth itself the point. She is not asking to be liked; she is stating what she will keep doing regardless of the reaction.

For Hindi film fans who follow her across industries, that stance is easier to cheer than it is to imitate. Public figures are told to ignore the trolls, but rarely do they spell out what they are choosing in place of the negativity. Mandanna does: kindness, consciously repeated.

What the exchange tells us

• Mandanna is positioning kindness as a deliberate choice, not a weakness.
• Deverakonda is asking viewers to check how much they really know before forming sweeping opinions.
• Both are using the moment to bring attention back to a new film, not just a new feud.

The next collaboration

The discussion lands just ahead of Ranabaali, directed by Rahul Sankrityan. Set against the 19th century, the film draws inspiration from the Great Madras famine, which unfolded between 1854 and 1878. It brings Mandanna and Deverakonda back together after Dear Comrade.

For fans, the chat is also a reminder that the person promoting a historical drama is navigating a very modern problem: being liked, judged and sometimes torn apart in public.

Source: The Times of India