'Turn That Music Off': Rashmika Mandanna Reveals Vijay Deverakonda Made Her Cry On Geetha Govindam Set

Actress Rashmika Mandanna opened up about her first meeting with Vijay Deverakonda on the sets of Geetha Govindam, recalling how an early interaction left her upset. The actress revealed that she initially called Vijay “sir” as he was more experienced in the industry, but an incident involving the music she was playing on set left her in tears.

Speaking about their first day of shooting, Rashmika told Prakhar Gupta in his podcast, “I remember when I first met him on set, I used to call him sir because I was new into the industry and he had done 3-4 films by that time. On Day 1, I was playing this random music on the set, and he goes like, ‘Turn that music off.’”

Vijay then explained that he has always been a blunt person and admitted that he failed to understand how his comment might have affected Rashmika.

“I am a blunt person, and I assume everyone to understand the intention. I feel like, we should be able to talk freely, openly but sometimes when you don’t know each other fully, it was stupid of me to assume, she’ll get it. I just casually said, ‘What is this sh**ty music that you’re playing?’ I shouted because we had to share a locked caravan in between but because we were not big stars, so half caravan was for her, and half was for me and my team. I screamed, ‘What is this sh**ty music that you are playing?’”

Rashmika pointed out that hearing such a comment from a co-star on the first day was hardly reassuring, especially as she was new to the industry. She said, “That is the first thing your co-actor is telling you, right?”

Vijay responded, “What should I say?”

Rashmika then added, “You’re absolutely right. Now that I think about it, I wonder what that was all about.”

Rashmika Thought Vijay Didn’t Like Her

Vijay later revealed that Rashmika had been affected by the incident, although she did not tell him about it at the time. He said, “She had tears in her eyes because she thought that he doesn’t like me.”

Explaining why she reacted that way, Rashmika said, “Because it is a new place, new industry.”

Vijay recalled, “She thought it is going to be a torture like this. She told me this much later.”

Rashmika admitted, “Yes, for a long time, I hadn’t said it.”

When Vijay questioned why she had kept it to herself, Rashmika explained that she was extremely sensitive during that phase of her life and would become emotional over even small things.

She recalled, “I was extremely sensitive and everything would tear me up. Going to the set and there were these situations when we started working in the film, he would help me with the dialogues, and everytime I used to call him sir, he used to be like, ‘Stop calling me that. I have a name, call me that’ then of course, it became Vijay, and then we became friends.”

The actors, who have worked together in films including Geetha Govindam and Dear Comrade, are now set to reunite on screen in Ranabaali. The period action drama, directed by Rahul Sankrityan, is scheduled to release on October 16, 2026.