Pradeep Ranganathan's video pulling Dude co-star Mamitha Baiju's hair goes viral; internet divided

Pradeep Ranganathan and Mamitha Baiju

Pradeep Ranganathan and Mamitha Baiju are gearing up for the release of their upcoming film, Dude. The upcoming romantic comedy film is set to release during Diwali. During a recent promotional event for the film, Pradeep and Mamitha were on stage, wherein they tried to recreate a ‘cute' scene from the film. However, after videos of the same went viral, many were shocked on seeing how Pradeep pulled Mamitha's hair, saying that there is nothing ‘cute' about it.

Pradeep Ranganathan and Mamitha Baiju video

In one of the scenes from the trailer, Mamitha's character is seen pulling the cheeks of Pradeep's character, and he stops her, saying ‘What is so cute about it?' On stage, they recreated the scene, instead, Pradeep pulled Mamitha's cheeks. He also pulled her hair from behind. He then playfully kicked her, as the audience cheered. She stated, "This is not cute. Okay?" He nodded while standing beside her, concluding the act.

Internet reacts

This moment on stage went viral on social media, which left many unimpressed. One user wrote, "Doesn't looks cute at all," as another said, "This moment is a perfect encapsulation of everything that's wrong with this actor. Choosing a specifically demeaning visual to recreate on stage, where they are less actors and more actual people. For the audience, the two become one at that moment... hear those people cheering. PR knows exactly what he is doing." A user even wrote, "Shameful behaviour, while another wrote, "Why are actors promoting violence?"

Meanwhile, a section of the users defended the act, saying, "Nothing about this clip is respectful. Shame," as another commented, "Inappropriate and disrespectful behaviour." One comment even read, "scene recreation that's ok but dont drag her hair like that you fool." One user even wrote, "This tweet lacks basic common sense. They were asked to recreate a scene from the movie, and the dialogue is from the film too."

Dude is helmed by debutant director Keerthiswaran and produced by Mythri Movie Makers. The film also stars Neha Shetty, R Sarathkumar, Hridhu Haroon and Rohini apart from Pradeep and Mamitha. It was expected to be released in theatres on 17 October for Diwali.