An alleged audio clip of Rashmika Mandanna’s mother, Suman Mandanna, has been circulating widely on social media, sparking fresh controversy online.
The clip reportedly contains comments about Rashmika’s past engagement with actor Rakshit Shetty.
The audio resurfaced just weeks after Rashmika’s wedding to Vijay Deverakonda on February 26 this year.
However, reports suggest that the clip is not recent and actually comes from an interview Suman Mandanna gave to a Kannada news channel nearly eight years ago.
According to reports, the interview was conducted by senior film journalist Mahesh Devishetty.
In the conversation, Suman spoke about tensions that allegedly developed between the two families during Rashmika’s engagement to Rakshit Shetty.
Rashmika and Rakshit first met while working on the Kannada film Kirik Party. The two got engaged in 2017 but later called off the engagement in 2018, stating that the decision was mutual.
In the resurfaced clip, Suman Mandanna allegedly spoke about disagreements between the families and claimed that arguments took place during that period.
She also mentioned that Rashmika had received an offer for the film Geetha Govindam and claimed there was pressure for the actress to announce on social media that she would quit acting after marriage.
Another part of the interview described an incident before the release of Geetha Govindam, when Rashmika was reportedly asked to travel urgently from Hyderabad to Bengaluru for a meeting.
As the clip began spreading online, Rashmika issued a detailed statement on X (formerly Twitter), criticising the circulation of what she described as an old private conversation.
The actress said she had been facing misinformation and online harassment for years and that the recent circulation of the audio crossed a line.
She said the clip appeared to be a small portion of a conversation taken out of context and circulated deliberately to create controversy, especially at a time when her personal life had recently made headlines.
Rashmika also expressed concern that the controversy had dragged her family and people close to her into unnecessary discomfort.
Calling it a serious invasion of privacy, the actress warned that those continuing to circulate the clip could face legal consequences.
In her statement, she requested media platforms, influencers and individuals to remove the content immediately and gave them 24 hours to do so.
She added that if the material continues to be shared, legal notices would be issued against those responsible for spreading defamatory or privacy-violating content.
Rashmika also urged people to respect personal boundaries and refrain from spreading misleading narratives online.
