Actor Mrunal Thakur has applauded Rashmika Mandanna for speaking out against a viral deepfake video of herself that that had gone viral and also encouraged others to speak against such situations. Mrunal took to her Instagram stories and expressed her support for Rashmika.
The 'Kumkum Bhagya' actor encouraged people to join the discussion, saying, "Shame on people who resort to such things, it shows that there's no conscience left at all in such people. Thank you Rashmika for speaking up, and for addressing this issue that so far we have seen glimpses of but a lot of us chose to remain silent."
"Every day there are morphed, edited videos of female actors floating around on the internet zooming into inappropriate body parts. Where are we heading as a community, and as a society? We may be actresses in the 'limelight' but at the end of the day, each one of us is human. Why aren't we talking about it? Don't remain silent, now is not the time."
The actor openly criticised people who engage in such behaviour, underlining the daily issues that female actors confront when their photos are twisted and manipulated.
Earlier on Monday, Rashmika strongly reacted to her deepfake video which went viral on social media. The 'Pushpa: The Rise' actor took to social media and shared a note that read, "I feel really hurt to share this and have to talk about the deepfake video of me being spread online. Something like this is honestly, extremely scary not only for me but also for each one of us who today is vulnerable to so much harm because of how technology is being misused."
"Today, as a woman and as an actor, I am thankful for my family, friends and well-wishers who are my protection and support system. But if this happened to me when I was in school or college, I genuinely can't imagine how could I ever tackle this. We need to address this as a community and with urgency before more of us are affected by such identity theft."
In the unconfirmed video, it can be seen that a woman with Rashmika's face was entering a lift wearing a black swimsuit. The video quickly went viral and several social media users came forward to confirm that it was a deepfake.
Her 'Goodbye' co-actor Amitabh Bachchan has called for legal action. He took to X and wrote, "Yes this is a strong case for legal."
Meanwhile, on the work front, Rashmika will be seen in 'Animal' opposite Ranbir Kapoor and in the Pan-India film 'Pushpa 2'. She also has 'Chaava' in her kitty. The film is all set to hit theatres on December 6, next year.
