The Girlfriend

Rahul Ravindran's 'The Girlfriend' is a deceptive and compelling film that begins as a familiar campus romance before meticulously peeling back its layers to reveal a tense, psychological drama. The story follows Bhooma Devi (Rashmika Mandanna), a serious literature student who, almost on a whim, agrees to date the charismatic but notorious college heartthrob Vikram (Dheekshith Shetty). What starts with the trappings of a typical love story—grand gestures and social envy—slowly, almost imperceptibly, morphs into a chilling study of control, gaslighting, and the erosion of self. The film's greatest strength is its pacing; it mirrors the insidious nature of emotional manipulation, lulling you into a sense of romantic comfort before the unsettling reality sets in. Rashmika Mandanna delivers a career-best performance, her expressive eyes charting Bhooma's journey from cautious optimism to dawning horror and, ultimately, to a hard-won resilience. Dheekshith Shetty is perfectly cast, balancing Vikram's initial charm with a simmering, possessive intensity that becomes increasingly terrifying. Director Rahul Ravindran shows remarkable restraint, using the academic setting and literary references (Bhooma's thesis work subtly mirrors her own predicament) to add depth rather than pretension. The cinematography shifts from warm, sun-drenched hues in the early courtship to cooler, more confined frames as the relationship sours, visually trapping the protagonist alongside her. While the runtime feels slightly indulgent in the second act, the film's final payoff is a powerful, cathartic statement on agency.