The Girlfriend Movie Review- Telugu (2025)

Movie: The Girlfriend — 2025

Director: Rahul Ravindran

Producers: Vidhya & Dheeraj

Cast: Deekshith Shetty, Rashmika Mandanna, Anu Emmanuel

Music: Hesham Abdul Wahab (Songs), Vihaari (Score)

Cinematography: Krishnan Vasanth

Editing: Chota K Prasad

Release Date: 07/11/2025

Streaming Platform: Netflix 

Language: Telugu 

Rating: U/A

Genre: Romantic Drama

2.5/5

A Reality Check on Toxic Love — With Execution That Fails Its Own Message

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01. What’s “The Girlfriend” up to?

Rahul Ravindran attempts a grounded, psychological romantic drama that explores female insecurity, broken families, emotional weakness, and how patriarchal men easily take advantage of such vulnerable women.

On paper, this is powerful.

On screen… it’s messy, confused, and frustratingly inconsistent.

The film follows Bhooma Devi — a soft-hearted girl from a chaotic home — who falls for Vikram, an egoistic, controlling man who mistakes possessiveness for love. The deeper she falls, the more miserable her life becomes, until she finally has to choose self-respect over emotional dependence.

Strong theme.

Weak execution.

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02. What works?

The Message — Spot On

The film’s core is genuinely important:

Women with broken pasts often fall for men similar to the fathers who hurt them. Their inability to say “No” becomes the biggest weapon used against them.

Rahul Ravindran captures this aspect sharply through Bhooma’s emotional journey. It feels real, relatable, and painful — because such girls exist everywhere.

Performances

Rashmika Mandanna — Another outing where she simply doesn’t deliver. She eats her dialogues, lacks clarity, and struggles in high emotional moments. A meaty role wasted.

Deekshith Shetty — Surprisingly effective as the egoistic, psychologically unstable partner. He commits to the toxicity.

Anu Emmanuel — Safe, elegant, and fits her Tenglish-speaking, polished character perfectly.

Scenes & Emotional Beats

More than individual scenes, the story intention works. The vulnerability of Bhooma, her broken past, her inability to assert herself — all these are convincingly written.

The film also attempts symbolic visual storytelling instead of heavy dialogue — which is refreshing, though inconsistent.

Technical Aspects

Music & Score are the film’s biggest saviours. Hesham and Vihaari elevate every emotional beat.

Some frames are beautifully symbolic, though the cinematography feels uneven.

Editing could have been sharper — too many abrupt tonal shifts.

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03. What went wrong? (A Lot)

This is where the film completely derails.

1. Zero Logic in Key Situations

The entire hostel/living situation is baffling. What adult PG allows men and women to sleep together in rooms like a casual arrangement? The film pretends it's “normal adulthood,” but real life doesn't work that way.

2. Bhooma’s Choices Are Written Without Clarity

Did Bhooma sleep with Vikram with or without consent?

If without — that’s assault. Why no complaint? Why no fear? Why no consequence?

If with — then her sudden moral shock when her father catches them lacks credibility.

The writing keeps swinging between “she’s too innocent to say no” and “she makes adult decisions” without grounding her arc properly.

3. The English HOD Monologue Is Unrealistic

Rahul Ravindran’s cameo as the HOD is supposed to bring maturity but instead brings confusion.

He says:

“They are adults. We shouldn’t interfere.”

Fine. But when Vikram starts emotionally torturing Bhooma, suddenly the same adults become helpless victims with no institutional or social support?

This inconsistency breaks the film’s realism.

4. Direction Is Messy

The film wants to be:

psychological,

socially conscious,

realistic,

symbolic,

and romantic…

…all at once.

It ends up being none of them convincingly.

5. The Execution Kills the Impact

The message is brilliant.

The story is important.

But the way it’s told lacks conviction, depth, and clarity.

By the end, we understand what Bhooma represents — but we don’t buy how the film gets her there.

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04. Finally?

The Girlfriend has a fantastic message, a relevant theme, and a realistic emotional core. But the execution is weak, the writing inconsistent, and the narrative logic collapses at crucial points.

This is a film where:

the intention is powerful,

the idea is meaningful,

but the translation to screen is deeply flawed.

If you watch it purely for the theme of female vulnerability and societal hypocrisy, it works.

If you expect sound writing, consistent characters, and convincing drama — it doesn’t.

A realistic message trapped inside an unrealistic film.