Director Rahul Raveendran hits back at internet trolls after his upcoming Telugu film lover, Starring Rashmika Mandanna, was dragged into the shocking Ketan Agarwal murder case. Responding to a social media user who made a direct comparison between the real-life crime and his film’s story, Raveendran clarified that his film addresses a completely different issue – the subtle, everyday social oppression faced by women in particular.

The director highlighted that he was not yet fully familiar with the entire details of the case, emphasizing that a cinematic adaptation of such a tragedy would simply be a story of “a particular woman committing a crime” rather than a generalized statement on gender.

An X user shared a photo lover To suggest that such films highlight certain stories in favor of women to “hide” the reality of cases like the Pune murder case. After this, another user tagged Rahul Ravindran and asked him to “make a film on atrocities of women on men”.

Responding to this on X, Raveendran mentioned that he “does not see atrocities by ‘women’ on ‘men’ at all”. In a long note, she wrote, “I see some horrific incidents where people who are oppressed by society for being women commit terrible crimes. On the other hand… I see a self-sustaining system, which has been in place for centuries, that suffocates women… which, through invisible, everyday microaggressions, forces them to diminish their identity. It does not provide them an equal world. This is from my perspective. I see many women around me suffering silently because of it And I chose to express it through this story because I feel responsible for it… because I benefit from the power equation.”

Raveendran also said that he did not have detailed information about the Ketan Aggarwal murder case. He said, “I have not yet read the details of this particular case… I will do that. And if there is a story that I find interesting to tell… I will do that too. But it will be about a particular woman committing a crime. Not crimes against women on men. There is a difference in the way I look at it. Mind you, such incidents of crime are horrific and horrifying. But what I was trying to do is completely different. It has nothing to do with such crimes.”

The director further explained why he did not play the character of boyfriend Vikram, who was played by Dixit Shetty loverAs in “murderer or rapist”. “There’s no physical abuse. He’s really loyal. And yet… like the original tweet, there’s a section that starts with the movie. Ask yourself why that is. But of course… if you or anyone else has a problem… tell him. It’s a healthy habit. I promise to take feedback and be introspective. It’s wonderful for all of us to talk to each other and try to understand each other.”

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Ketan Agarwal murder case

In the Pune murder case, police said that Sia had made several attempts to bring Ketan to Lohagarh Fort. The couple visited the fort for the first time on May 31. Four days later, on June 4, Sia pressed for another visit, but Ketan’s mother did not allow it. On 14 June he convinced her to leave again. During that trip she allegedly tried to push him off a rock, but Ketan managed to grab hold of a bush, police said. When she asked why he pushed her, Siya allegedly told her that there was a snake there and he did it to save her. Ketan was murdered on June 18.

lover (2025) directed by Raveendran starred actors Rashmika Mandanna, Dixit Shetty and Anu Emmanuel in the lead roles.