The Karnataka legislator said that the actor allegedly refused to attend the Kannada film festival despite being invited multiple times to the event
Rashmika Mandanna is facing Internet’s wrath.
Karnataka Congress MLA Ravikumar Gowda Ganiga on Monday accused actor Rashmika Mandanna of “insulting and disregarding” Kannada language over her alleged refusal to attend the Bengaluru International Film Festival.
Ganiga said that Mandanna should be taught a lesson for disregarding the industry where she started her film career.
The Karnataka legislator said that the actor allegedly refused to attend the Kannada film festival despite being invited multiple times to the event, saying didn’t have time to visit Karnataka.
“Rashmika Mandanna, who started her career with the Kannada movie Kirik Party in Karnataka, refused to attend the International Film Festival last year when we invited her. She said, ‘I have my house in Hyderabad, I don’t know where Karnataka is, and I don’t have time. I can’t come.’ One of our legislator friends visited her house 10-12 times to invite her, but she refused and even disregarded Kannada, despite growing up in the industry here. Shouldn’t we teach them a lesson?” he said as quoted by news agency ANI.
Bengaluru | Congress MLA Ravikumar Gowda Ganiga says, “Rashmika Mandanna, who started her career with the Kannada movie Kirik Party in Karnataka, refused to attend the International Film Festival last year when we invited her. She said, ‘I have my house in Hyderabad, I don’t know… pic.twitter.com/uftmWfrMZ6— ANI (@ANI) March 3, 2025
According to Ganiga, Mandanna allegedly ignored Karnataka and the Kannada language, despite her beginnings in the Kannada film industry. She made her cinema debut with the 2016 Kannada film Kirik Party.
BJP Reacts
The BJP soon condemned Ganiga’s comments calling them unconstitutional. Former union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar dubbed the Karnataka MLA as “pompous overblown Karnataka MLA”, and said every citizen, including actresses, have rights.
“You can never separate goon from Rahul Congressman. This pompous overblown #Karnataka MLA from constitution waving @RahulGandhi’s party, wants to ‘teach a lesson’ to an actress. I want to tell @DKShivakumar and @siddaramaiah to read up constitution – every citizen including actress hv rights and dont forget ur goon MPA has obligations to respect law and rights of citizens If he wants a ‘lesson’ in constitution, I/we will be happy to ‘teach’ this goon – free of charge – anytime, anyplace Call me! #KnowTheTruth #TruthAboutCorruptCong,” he said in a post on X.
Backlash Over Rashmika’s Comments
Mandanna’s recent remark about being from Hyderabad at an event has stirred controversy, drawing objections from several pro-Kannada groups. Karnataka Rakshana Vedike President T A Narayan Gowda also weighed in on the matter, issuing a warning to Rashmika. Certain pro-Kannada organisations accused her of disrespecting the Kannada film industry, despite beginning her career in Kannada film industry.
A clip of Mandanna during Chhaava promotion stating she is from Hyderabad instead of Karnataka had gone viral, sparking criticism online. Mandanna, who hails from Coorg, Karnataka, began her cinematic journey with Kannada films before gaining widespread recognition through Telugu cinema.
