Rashmika Mandanna deepfake video: Previously, Mandanna received support for the incident from Mrunal Thakur, Naga Chaitanya, and singer Chinmayi Sripada.
Following the widespread distribution of the deepfake video of ‘Pushpa: The Rise’ star Rashmika Mandanna on social media over the weekend, wrestler Bajrang Punia became the latest prominent figure to express alarm on Tuesday.

Rashmika Mandanna, an actor, and wrestler Bajrang Punia.
Punia posted on social media X, saying, ‘This is an extremely concerning and serious issue, especially considering women safety and privacy,’ and requesting that the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Prime Minister’s Office take ‘appropriate measure to prevent such incidences in future and take strict action against the culprits.’

Prior to this, Mandanna was supported by actors Mrunal Thakur, Naga Chaitanya, and singer Chinmayi Sripada on the event.

Amitabh Bachchan, Mandanna’s ‘Goodbye’ co-star, was the first to respond when a fact checker shared the deepfake video alongside Zara Patel’s original video, a British-Indian social media sensation, and emphasized the need for legal and regulatory measures to address deepfakes in India.

Thakur applauded Mandanna for speaking up and encouraged others to stop staring on silently when altered videos of female performers excessively zooming in on body parts circulate online.

‘We appreciate @rashmika_mandanna taking the time to speak up on this matter, which many of us opted to keep quiet about despite seeing glimpses of so far. As a civilization and as a community, where are we going?

‘Even though we are all actors in the ‘limelight,’ we are all ultimately just people. Why do we not discuss it? Don’t hold back—this is not the time to be silent,’ Thakur posted on her Instagram Story.

The video, which features a lady entering an elevator while wearing a black gym onesie, ‘really hurt’ Mandanna, who posted a long letter on the microblogging platform X on Monday, said. Artificial intelligence (AI) was used to modify Patel’s face such that it resembled the actor.

since a woman and an actor, I am grateful for my family, friends, and well-wishers today, since they serve as my safety net and support network.

‘However, I sincerely don’t know how I would handle this if it had occurred to me when I was in college or school. Before more of us are impacted by this kind of identity, it is imperative that we confront this as a community and quickly,’ Mandanna continued in her article.

With the help of artificial intelligence (AI) and a digital technique called ‘deepfake,’ users may accurately replace one person’s image with another.

The woman whose face was altered to resemble Mandanna, Patel, denounced the deepfake video and claimed to have ‘no involvement’ with it.

‘Hello everyone, I just discovered that someone used my body and the face of a well-known Bollywood actress to produce a deepfake video. The model posted on her Instagram Story on Monday night, saying, ‘I had no involvement with the deepfake video, and I’m deeply disturbed and upset by what is happening (sic).’

‘I’m concerned about what lies ahead for girls and women, who now have to live with the constant fear of posting anything on social media. Please stand back and verify the information you find online. On the internet, not everything is as it seems. ‘I’m really disturbed by what’s taking place,’ Patel continued in her article.

According to Chaitanya, it is depressing to observe how technology is being abused, and it is even more frightening to consider where this may go in the future.

‘To safeguard those who have been and will continue to be victims of this, action must be taken and laws of some sort must be upheld. I’m sending you strength,’ he replied to Mandanna’s X post.

Deepfake is ‘the next weapon’ to target and blackmail females in India, according to Chinmayi’s article.

‘Women borrowers are harassed by loan apps with photoshopped versions of their faces over explicit images, and they are unable to handle it.’ However, it will be more difficult for the untrained eye to recognize a Deep Fake. ‘Not everyone has high-definition screens (sic)’ the singer posted on the microblogging platform.

Rajeev Chandrasekhar, the state minister of information technology and electronics, stated on Monday that social media firms are required to erase false material and guarantee that any false information brought to them by users or the government be removed within a day.

‘Under the IT rules notified in April 2023 it is a legal obligation for platforms to ensure no misinformation is posted by any user and ensure that when reported by any user or govt, misinformation is removed in 36 hrs,’ he said in a post on X.

‘Deepfakes are the latest and even more dangerous and damaging form of misinformation and need to be dealt with by platforms,’ he stated.

Mandanna voiced her worries about her phony video becoming viral.