In 2025, Rahul Ravindran made a Rashmika Mandanna and Deekshit Shetty-starrer, The Girlfriend, that still seems to rub trolls the wrong way. After the recent Ketan Agarwal-Siya Goyal case, he received a fresh wave of trolling for not making films on the atrocities men face. When his wife, singer Chinmayi Sripaada, defended him, she found herself in the centre of the storm too. Rahul had to defend himself and Chinmayi when it all reached momentum. (Also Read: ‘Not okay with it’: Sunitha hits back at Chinmayi Sripaada after being called out for saying ‘his eyes, his wish’)
What did Rahul Ravindran say?
An X (formerly Twitter) user posted a still from The Girlfriend and an AI-generated picture of Siya pushing Ketan off a cliff as her alleged boyfriend Chetan Chaudhary stood behind her. They wrote, “They show this, to hide this,” adding, “Bro @23_rahulr please do one movie on atrocities of women on men.”
In response, a portion of what Rahul wrote reads: “But I don’t see atrocities of ‘women’ on ‘men’ at all. I see some horrible incidents of sociopathic human beings who happen to be women, committing horrible crimes. On the other hand… I see a self sustaining system that has lasted centuries that suffocates women… that through invisible, everyday micro aggressions, forces them to shrink their identities. That doesn’t offer them an equal world. This is from my perspective.”
He also wrote about how he has seen women around him suffer silently, so it’s what he chose to convey in The Girlfriend. “I felt responsible for it as a man… because I benefit from the power equation,” he wrote. Rahul also mentioned that he hasn’t read the details of the case, and if there’s a story to tell, he will do so. “But it would be about one particular woman committing a crime. Not crimes of women on men. There’s a difference, the way I see it,” he added.
Rahul also pointed out that Deekshit’s character in the film isn’t a murderer or a rapist, nor is there physical abuse, and he’s faithful. And yet, people get triggered by him. “Ask yourself why that is,” he wrote.
Chinmayi Sripaada asks women to find a husband like Rahul Ravindran
Chinmayi also re-posted his tweet, writing, “There is a reason I am telling women here especially the younger girls to find a man like Rahul or not marry at all. Please dont waste your life, time and energy. There are a few men like him, find them, the rest are not worth your time, energy and reproductive rights.”
She also added, “Couldnt care less if I get abused. I am happily married I wish the happiness and such a man for other girls. Of course I guess now the incels will start haemorrhaging on my replies.” Much as she predicted, their statements led to backlash and accusations that the couple was ‘biased’.
Rahul Ravindran defends himself, Chinmayi
“This is the problem,” wrote Rahul on X, responding to the trolling. He also pointed out that he was not a news outlet and could not react to everything that happens, and that he had only responded because the X user had accused him of making The Girlfriend with blind bias.
“It doesn’t suit your narrative of Chinmayi, so you won’t share it or react to it, but she calls out sexual assault cases across religions… especially men of religion. All religions. But you will ignore it and keep saying she has a bias. She goes very hard on parents who physically abuse their children. Both women and men. But you will ignore those because it doesn’t suit your narrative of her,” wrote Rahul, defending his wife.
“Your point seems to be to discredit her rather than the issue at hand itself. Why would you think of her when talking about an issue that has nothing to do with her?” he added. He also released a new statement, telling the trolls they have ‘changed’ his mind. Rahul wrote with sarcasm that he now agrees ‘women are dangerous, men beware.’ “Patriarchy doesn’t exist anymore. Probably never did. It’s a fallacy,” he added.
He also agreed that two controversial murders of men by women every single year ‘can’t be ignored’. “I will make a movie that exposes them and the poisonous mindset of Indian women at large. This works guys? Why have discussions when it’s time for us to act. Let’s go,” he ended his note.