Rahul Ravindran’s romantic drama The Girlfriend, starring Rashmika Mandanna and Dheekshith Shetty, released in theatres last month and earned widespread praise from both critics and audiences. While the film has been appreciated for its honest portrayal of toxic relationships, the director has now revealed the emotional toll one particular scene took on Rashmika—leaving her completely shattered on set.
In a recent conversation with The Hollywood Reporter India, Rahul Ravindran opened up about filming what he described as the most difficult and emotionally draining sequence in the movie. The scene, known as the “door sequence,” was so intense that Rashmika was left sobbing uncontrollably after the camera stopped rolling.
“The toughest scene, which was pretty gut-wrenching for both Rashmika and me, was the door sequence,” Rahul said. “That was the seed of the film. It was something I had seen in my own life.” The scene shows Rashmika’s character, Bhooma, discovering abusive words written across her dorm room door—a moment that becomes a turning point in the story.
What made the scene even more powerful was Rahul’s unconventional approach to preparing Rashmika for it. Instead of asking her to think like her character, he asked her to think like herself. “For this one scene, I told her I’m not going to ask you to think like Bhooma. I’m going to ask you to think like Rashmika,” he revealed.
Rahul encouraged the actress to confront painful memories from her own life. He asked her to remember moments when she had been abused or hurt—sometimes even by strangers. According to the director, Rashmika often masks pain with optimism, but for this scene, he asked her to let go of that instinct. “I told her to set that aside, take all that in and let it come out,” he said.
To keep the emotion raw and real, Rashmika was not shown the door beforehand. The camera captured her reaction the very first time she saw it. When the shot ended, Rahul immediately sensed something was wrong. “I didn’t even say ‘Take okay’. I just went to the door and went inside,” he recalled.
What he saw was heartbreaking. “She was a mess. She was broken. She was sobbing uncontrollably. For about 20 minutes, she just kept sobbing,” Rahul said, adding that something deeply buried had surfaced after years of suppression.
Written and directed by Rahul Ravindran, The Girlfriend follows Bhooma Devi, a postgraduate student deceived into a toxic relationship with Vikram (Dheekshith Shetty). Produced by Dheeraj Mogilneni and Vidya Koppineni, the film also stars Anu Emmanuel and Rao Ramesh in key roles.