Actress Rashmika Mandanna reacted to deepfake video of her which has been circulated on social media. Sharing to her Instagram stories, the Animal actress wrote, "I feel really hurt to share this and have to talk about the deepfake video of me being spread online."
She added, "Something like this is honestly, extremely scary not only for me, but also for each one of us who today is vulnerable to so much harm because of how technology is being misused."
"Today, as a woman and as an actor, I am thankful for my family, friends and well wishers who are my protection and support system. But if this happened to me when I was in school or college, I genuinely can't imagine how could I ever tackle this. We need to address this as a community and with urgency before more of us are affected by such identity theft," Rashmika concluded.
For those unversed, a deepfake video of the actress has been doing the rounds on social media platforms. In the video, a woman is seen entering an elevator. However, it is morphed to show Rashmika's face. While some social media users were tricked into believing that the woman is Rashmika, others pointed out that it is an AI-generated edited video and the woman in the clip is not the actress.
Several users also shared the original video and called out those making such videos just to garner views. A section of users, including megastar Amitabh Bachchan, also demanded 'strict action' against those who uploaded it and claimed that the woman is Rashmika.
It may be noted that earlier deepfake videos of celebrities like Tom Cruise, Anne Hathaway, Mohanlal, Mammootty, Fahadh Faasil and others also surfaced on social media and created headlines.
Meanwhile, on the work front, Rashmika has Animal coming up next opposite Ranbir Kapoor. Directed by Sandeep Reddy Vanga, the film also stars Anil Kapoor, Bobby Deol and Triptii Dimri. The film is scheduled to release in cinemas on December 1.
Rashmika also has Pushpa: The Rule with Allu Arjun, Rainbow opposite Dev Mohan of Shaakuntalam fame and an untitled next with Vijay Deverakonda.
