The Girlfriend Reimagined: What If Bhooma Chose Vengeance Over Heartbreak?

Rashmika Mandanna-starrer The Girlfriend is one of the most talked about movies of the year. The movie also stars Dheekshith Shetty as the male lead. The film follows Bhooma Devi (Rashmika Mandanna), a sincere postgraduate literature student who moves to Hyderabad with dreams of love and a fulfilling future. She falls for Vikram (Dheekshith Shetty), and what begins as a sweet college romance gradually turns troubling as his possessive and controlling nature surfaces. As the relationship grows toxic, Bhooma is forced to confront emotional manipulation, leading her on a journey of self-realisation, independence and understanding the true meaning of love.

In the movie, Bhooma is shown as a very calm and innocent girl. When she rejects Vikram's love after learing his real toxic behaviour, the latter troubles her in front of the college. He even leaks her phone number and spreads fake rumours of her being a prostitute. But, Bhooma, instead of giving it back to Vikram, she bears all out of fear. Though she exposes Vikram's true colour to the college people, but it reflects more of a heartbreak than vengeance.

What if Rashmika Mandanna’s character in The Girlfriend chose vengeance over heartbreak?

Re-imagining the ending of The Girlfriend

Vengeance here does not mean violence. Instead of allowing herself to be dominated by Vikram, Bhooma could have gathered courage to expose Vikram's controlling nature in front of their friends or college authorities. In the movie, Bhooma is forced to break ties with her friends, but now, in this new version, confronting Vikram would require her to rebuild her friendships. econnecting with her friends and family would give Bhooma the emotional support she needs to stand her ground. Every step she takes towards herself would have weaken him. Vikram would have grown restless as Bhooma becomes emotionally distant and unavailable.

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As shown in the film, she had doubts of Vikram for a long time. Instead of letting Vikram suppress her, she could have recorded his conversations where he manipulates her. This would send a powerful message—that emotional abuse is real and deserves to be confronted, not hidden.

The storyline would question why women are expected to forgive and move on. This way, female anger could have been portrayed as purposeful rather than destructive or immoral. The film would push audiences to reflect on whether revenge can ever be justified and whether forgiveness is always the higher ground.

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About The Girlfriend: The Girlfriend is a 2025 Indian Telugu-language romantic drama written and directed by Rahul Ravindran, featuring Rashmika Mandanna alongside Dheekshith Shetty and Anu Emmanuel. Principal photography began in early 2025, with filming carried out across Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam and other parts of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, including extensive shoots at the NALSAR University of Law in Hyderabad. The film’s music and background score were composed by Hesham Abdul Wahab. Upon release, The Girlfriend received positive responses from both critics and audiences, who praised Rashmika Mandanna’s performance, the engaging storyline, the soulful music and Ravindran’s direction.