Rashmika Mandanna throws light on her Deepfake video, 'I wondered if she was a college-going girl'

When Rashmika Mandanna's deepfake video went viral in November 2023, everyone was surprised and frightened. While the man who created the viral video has already been caught, Rashmika has revealed why she chose to come out against her deepfake video. The 'Pushpa' actress recently appeared on 'We Are Yuvaa', where she stated that it is important to discuss such situations to raise awareness.

Rashmika Mandanna's statement

"So many times, when you talk about it, someone says, 'But you chose this job!' Or, 'This is how it's going to be.' So, why are you talking about it now? In my brain, all I could think about was how if something occurred to me in college, I wouldn't have anyone to support me. Because something in our culture dictates that what society thinks of us must be us. As if we had to be and react the way society expects us to, you know, think and react, right?" Rashmika said.

Rashmika stated that she wondered if she was a college-going girl and had to go through the same thing. "And I'm like, Dude, I'm so scared for them. And, as I mentioned, there are at least 41 million people who are aware that there is something known as a deepfake. And this is not correct. Something is impacting people's emotions and prompting them to get stressed. So I think raising awareness was vital to me," the actress said.

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For those unfamiliar, a morphing video of Rashmika Mandanna became viral on social media in November of last year. In the video, the woman with Rashmika's face is seen entering a lift while wearing a fitting suit. However, it was subsequently revealed that the viral video was a deepfake. It drew everyone's attention when superstar Amitabh Bachchan took to the microblogging platform X and sought legal action.

An FIR was then filed in connection with the incident at the IFSO unit of the Delhi Police's Special Cell under sections 465 (forgery) and 469 (forgery to hurt reputation) of the Indian Penal Code, as well as sections 66C and 66E of the Information Technology Act. Later, Delhi Police nabbed the man who created the deepfake video of the actress on January 21, 2024.