{"id":563581,"date":"2025-10-30T19:01:14","date_gmt":"2025-10-30T13:31:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/industryhit.com\/t\/?p=563581"},"modified":"2025-10-30T19:01:14","modified_gmt":"2025-10-30T13:31:14","slug":"the-girlfriend-director-rahul-ravindran-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/industryhit.com\/t\/the-girlfriend-director-rahul-ravindran-interview\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cThe Girlfriend\u201d will surprise audiences with its high-voltage drama: Director Rahul Ravindran"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe Girlfriend\u201d will surprise audiences with its high-voltage drama: Director Rahul Ravindran<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

National crush Rashmika Mandanna and talented actor Dheekshith Shetty star together in the film The Girlfriend. Presented by veteran producer Allu Aravind, the movie is being jointly produced by Geetha Arts and Dheeraj Mogilineni Entertainment. Director Rahul Ravindran is helming this intense and emotional love story, with Dheeraj Mogilineni and Vidya Koppineedi as producers. Shaping up as a refreshing romantic drama, the film is set for a grand worldwide theatrical release on November 7, in Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, and Kannada.<\/span><\/p>\n

Speaking in an print and web interview today, director Rahul Ravindran<\/span> revealed the highlights of The Girlfriend. He said, “I wrote the story of The Girlfriend based on an incident I witnessed during my college days. A song I heard around that time also inspired me to write this story. During my free time, I had developed a few scripts. The team at Aha approached me for a project, and I sent them this story. Earlier, I was supposed to do a film with Rashmika and Geetha Arts. When Allu Aravind Garu read The Girlfriend\u2019s story, he said it had strong cinematic potential and insisted we make it as a theatrical film rather than for OTT. So, Rashmika and I set aside our earlier project and began this one.<\/span><\/p>\n

– When I sent the script to Rashmika, she said she\u2019d read it and get back to me. Within two days, she called after finishing it and said, \u201cLet\u2019s do this film immediately. This is a story that deserves to be told to the audience. As a woman, I connected deeply with it. This movie is my big hug to all the girls out there.\u201d Whenever I write a story, I share it with my friends like Samantha, Vennela Kishore, Adivi Sesh, and director Sujeeth for their feedback. I also sent The Girlfriend to them. There were even rumors that Samantha was being considered as the female lead. After reading the script, Samantha suggested that it would work better with another heroine.<\/span><\/p>\n

– We intentionally misdirected the audience with the teaser and trailer. The main content is something you\u2019ll enjoy only in theatres. The same intense, high-voltage drama you saw in the trailer continues into the second half. This drama will surprise the audience. I\u2019ve depicted the story in the way I understood what happened in a couple\u2019s life. There are no moral messages or lessons. I believe audiences will reflect on it in their own way. What I think is right today may not feel the same five years from now, so I never try to preach through my films. It\u2019s a realistic take on an emotionally intense love story.<\/span><\/p>\n

– When Rashmika\u2019s Animal released and grossed hundreds of crores, I was a bit nervous. I wondered if audiences would accept her realistic portrayal here, after seeing her in a larger-than-life role there. But Rashmika understood my concern and said, \u201cPlease present me on screen exactly as this story demands. My character should look authentic.\u201d We often label films as \u201cwomen-centric,\u201d but it will take time before that tag truly disappears. In this story, both the hero and heroine have equal importance. However, the narrative is told from the heroine\u2019s point of view.<\/span><\/p>\n

– For the role of Vikram in The Girlfriend, I searched for an actor who would instantly attract attention – someone who would look like a guy that many girls in college would like. While watching interviews during the Dasara promotions, I noticed Dheekshith Shetty and felt he fit perfectly. The hero and heroine in the film are post-graduate students. There\u2019s also a lecturer\u2019s role, and I initially thought director Sandeep Reddy Vanga would be great for it. When we approached him, he declined, saying audiences would laugh upon seeing him on screen. Eventually, I had to play that role myself. Anu Emmanuel also fit her part perfectly.<\/span><\/p>\n

– Hesham Abdul Wahab has given us beautiful music that elevates the film\u2019s emotional depth. Working with him was a great experience. My stories are often inspired by things I\u2019ve seen, read, or experienced in life. As a director, I never aimed to create a \u201csignature style.\u201d But perhaps after watching my films, people might recognize certain values and sensitivities as part of my direction.<\/span><\/p>\n

– I\u2019ve already finalized my next two directorial projects, and I\u2019ll announce their details soon. After those, Rashmika and I plan to collaborate again. She really liked the story idea, and I\u2019ll start developing the script soon. Our combination will return with that project.<\/span><\/p>\n

– When I was waiting for an opportunity as an assistant director, I got a chance to act as a hero. I took it, thinking it would help me build connections. But my true interest was always in writing and direction. Even now, I get acting offers, but being a hero requires a full year of commitment to a single project. After directing my first film, I decided not to pursue hero roles. I still enjoy acting, but I consider direction is my real career. I\u2019m open to playing smaller roles that need around 20 days of shooting – especially if I can learn something from the director. My friend Sujeeth offered me a role in OG, and I did it. If director Hanu Raghavapudi invites me for his film, I\u2019ll definitely do it. He\u2019s currently working with Prabhas Garu, and I\u2019d love to be part of such big projects. If Hanu ever asks me to play the lead in one of his movies, I\u2019ll happily do it.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe Girlfriend\u201d will surprise audiences with its high-voltage drama: Director Rahul Ravindran National crush Rashmika Mandanna and talented actor Dheekshith Shetty star together in the film The Girlfriend. Presented by veteran producer Allu Aravind, the movie is being jointly produced by Geetha Arts and Dheeraj Mogilineni Entertainment. Director Rahul Ravindran is helming this intense and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":563582,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,11,17],"tags":[69281,50257,3070,430,7444,64344,3602],"yst_prominent_words":[17330,13232,8966,29874,12575,8910,10531,8965,53011,10861,9183,20949,18621,9249,9205],"class_list":["post-563581","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-interviews","category-news","category-slideshow","tag-the-girlfriend-director-rahul-ravindran-interview","tag-directors-interviews","tag-rahul-ravindran","tag-rashmika-mandanna","tag-telugu-cinema","tag-the-girlfriend","tag-tollywood"],"read":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/industryhit.com\/t\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/563581","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/industryhit.com\/t\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/industryhit.com\/t\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/industryhit.com\/t\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/industryhit.com\/t\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=563581"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/industryhit.com\/t\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/563581\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":563583,"href":"https:\/\/industryhit.com\/t\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/563581\/revisions\/563583"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/industryhit.com\/t\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/563582"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/industryhit.com\/t\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=563581"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/industryhit.com\/t\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=563581"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/industryhit.com\/t\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=563581"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/industryhit.com\/t\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=563581"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}