Mrunal Thakur shared this image. (courtesy: mrunalthakur)
On Sunday, a deepfake video of Pushpa star Rashmika Mandanna appeared online, in which she is seen entering an elevator. The original video is that of British-Indian social media personality Zara Patel. Several actors from the film industry, including Amitabh Bachchan, Mrunal Thakur, have slammed the video on social media. Mrunal Thakur wrote in an Instagram story, "Shame on people who resort to such things, it shows that there's no conscience left at all in such people. Thank you Rashmika Mandanna for speaking up, and for addressing this issue that so far we have seen glimpses of but a lot of us chose to remain silent."
Mrunal added in her note, "Every day there are morphed, edited videos of female actors floating around on the internet zooming into inappropriate body parts. Where are we heading as a community, and as a society? We may be actresses in the 'limelight' but at the end of the day, each one of us is human. Why aren't we talking about it? Don't remain silent, now is not the time."
This is what Mrunal Thakur posted:
Screenshot of Mrunal Thakur's Instagram stories
Reacting to her viral deepfake video earlier, Rashmika Mandanna, on Monday, released a statement, in which she wrote that it is "extremely scary" how technology is being misused. Ms Mandanna's statement read, "I feel really hurt to share this and have to talk about the deep fake video of me being spread online. 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."
Mrunal Thakur, the star of TV show Mujhse Kuchh Kehti... Yeh Khamoshiyaan, became a household name after starring in the TV show Kumkum Bhagya. Her upcoming projects include Pooja Meri Jaan, Aankh Micholi, Pippa and a project titled Hi Nana with superstar Nani. Mrunal starred in Gumraah, Lust Stories 2 and Selfiee earlier this year.
Mrunal Thakur is best known for her performances in films like Sita Ramam, Super 30, Toofaan, Batla House, Love Sonia, Ghost Stories, among many others. Her other film credits include Dhamaka with Kartik Aaryan and Jersey, co-starring Shahid Kapoor.