Sexualising childhood and glorifying it: Rashmika Mandanna faces flak for swooning over school girl dancing to Saami Saami

Rashmika Mandanna was recently mesmerized by a young schoolgirl dancing effortlessly to her song Saami Saami from the movie Pushpa: The Rise . She was so bowled over her moves that she expressed her desperation to meet her. She took to Twitter and shared the viral video with the caption that read, “ “Maaaaadddddeeeeee myyyyy daaaaaay. I want to meet this cutie. How can I? (sic).” However, her reaction didn’t go down well with the Twitterati who called her out for encouraging small children to do such ‘cheap steps’.

“Sad to see u encourage small children to do such steps under the garb of cuteness while they are still in their childhood”, wrote one of the Twitter users. Another commented, “And you have no problem with a young child doing such steps. Sexualizing childhood and then glorifying it. Sad day.” “That's why dance shows thrive on such cheap steps and songs bcoz of such encouragement.” added another user. Some also compared the little girl to Rashmika and said she had danced better than the actor herself. Check out the reactions here:

Also read: Amitabh Bachchan didn't like Rashmika Mandanna while working together on Goodbye ?

For those unaware, Rashmika played Srivalli, the love interest of Allu Arjun in Sukumar’s Pushpa. The song Saami Saami became an instant hit as soon as the movie was released in December last year. The actress is reportedly gearing up for the sequel Pushpa: The Rule. In August, the upcoming project was officially launched with a pooja ceremony. Sukumar will return to direct the second part as well and it is scheduled to hit cinemas next year.

Meanwhile, the Sita Ramam actress is all set to make her Bollywood debut with Vikash Bahl’s movie, Goodbye. She will feature alongside Amitabh Bachchan, Neena Gupta, Sunil Grover, and Pavail Gulati in the upcoming movie. Besides it, the actress also has Mission Majnu opposite Sidharth Malhotra and Sandeep Vanga Reddy’s Animal co-starring Ranbir Kapoor.