"The Girlfriend's story takes place in the backdrop of a college. Audiences will be reminded of the stories of their friends when they watch our movie," says producer Vidya Koppineedi, talking about Rashmika Mandanna's next theatrical release. Ahead of the movie's release on November 7th, the producers also confirm paid premieres in the Telugu States on the previous day of release.
In this interview, producers Dheeraj Mogilineni and Vidya talk more about the film, whose songs and trailer have been a hit.
Producer Dheeraj Mogilineni:
Rahul Ravindran intended to make a web series for Aha. But I and my fellow producer, Vidya, wanted to make it as a feature film. As producers, we always wish for a film to have commercial appeal, but we loved this story so much that we were willing to take the risk. Chi La Sow, the director's debut movie, won a National Award. Even so, we didn't take that result and the performance of his second movie (Manmadhudu 2) into consideration. We backed this movie because the story drew us in.
As I said previously, Rashmika started working on The Girlfriend without seeking any fee. Out of thankfulness, we are now offering her double the fee she would have been paid otherwise.
Since this is a love story narrated from the female lead's point of view, for the male lead, we couldn't have gone for a big star. Dheekshith was cast and he is wonderful. He is the perfect fit. He wasn't cast to cater to the Kannada market. Anu Emmanuel's part is not a small one. She is another perfect fit for the character.
We are releasing the movie on our own. We are confident that The Girlfriend will work theatrically! The Telugu and Hindi versions will be released on the 7th, followed by Tamil, Kannada, and Malayalam on the 14th. A promotional event is coming up in Mumbai. We are planning premiere shows on the 6th (especially in Telugu).
Immediately after the release of this movie, a new announcement will come from me and Vidya. Geetha Arts and Allu Aravind garu have been constantly supporting us. He lets Vidya and I take on projects after careful thought.
Producer Vidya Koppineedi:
The Girlfriend will have a takeaway from every viewer. It's not a run-of-the-mill love story or commercial film. Despite the template not being commercial, Dheeraj and I decided to believe in the story. That's a calculated call we took. As producers, we make collective decisions.
It is true that CBFC members lauded The Girlfriend after the censor formality the other day. They predicted that the film will surely secure a National Award. We focused on making an emotionally strong, fresh love story that appeals to all ages. The story naturally became women-centric and is mostly original, though inspired by real-life events.
Samantha Ruth Prabhu was not even considered. Right from the start, Rashmika was our first choice. Since she embraced the story wholly, Rahul didn't have to make any alterations to suit her preferences. Hesham Abdul Wahab has set to tune four full-fledged songs, besides two bit songs.
Most of the film was shot on a college campus, which presented scheduling challenges as filming wasn't permitted during working days, and our lead actress, Rashmika, was busy with other projects. This caused some delays, but the shoot was otherwise smooth. A workers' strike towards the end had minimal impact as filming was nearing completion.
