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Sorry, Vijay Deverakonda, That Was Cringe

Vijay Deverakonda and Rashmika Mandanna finally sat on the Koffee With Karan couch as a married couple. One clip from the episode went viral, and not in a good way.

After following the coverage, my verdict is simple: Vijay was cringe.

Who they are

Rashmika Mandanna is one of India’s biggest stars right now. She broke out in Telugu films with Geetha Govindam in 2018, became a household name as Srivalli in the Pushpa films, and has hits like Animal and Pushpa 2 to her name.

Vijay Deverakonda is a Telugu leading man who shot to fame with Arjun Reddy in 2017. Playing that film’s toxic surgeon shaped his tough-guy image.

They met making Geetha Govindam, dodged dating rumors for years, and married on February 26, 2026 in Udaipur. Their third film together, Ranabaali, opened October 16, and the talk-show appearance doubled as promotion for it.

The “100 times” moment

When Karan Johar asked about the proposal, Rashmika shook her head. Vijay explained that she was the one who suggested marriage, while they were sitting at an airport.

His response to her, as he told it: “Okay, you ask me a hundred times.” Rashmika’s follow-up landed even harder. She said she kept asking for an entire year.

Think about that. One of the biggest actresses in the country spent a year asking, and he told the story on one of India’s biggest talk shows like a punchline.

The proposal that wasn’t, until it was

Vijay also told Karan that proposing just isn’t in him. Then he said he did go down on one knee, on their sangeet night in Udaipur. He had planned to propose in Italy but couldn’t find the right ring.

So which is it? Either way, he made Rashmika wait a year, then told the story in a way that made her sound like she begged.

According to Rediff, he also got angry when photographers passed off a random ring as their engagement ring. That much fuss over a ring photo sits oddly next to a year of making her ask.

His defense made it worse

When Karan reacted with surprise, Vijay’s explanation was to insist he’s not an a**hole. If you have to say that on camera, the moment has already gone wrong.

It doesn’t stop there. According to Rediff, he admitted his old interviews treated love with disbelief, and he told the wedding crew not to talk to him or ask him to pose. Nobody had phones at the wedding, as Khaleej Times also reported.

Any one of these could be harmless on its own. Together, they make him come across as someone who wants everything on his terms.

The internet agrees

The backlash was loud. Critics called it humiliating and labeled him a red flag, and one line went viral: Rashmika loves Vijay, and Vijay also loves Vijay.

Others pointed out that she’s the more successful star, which made his doing-her-a-favor tone sting even more. Per the Times of India, some held up Ranveer Singh and Vicky Kaushal as husbands who seem proud to adore their wives.

In fairness

Vijay said he was testing the relationship before committing. According to Rediff, he also admitted the “100 times” line was stupid, and said he sleeps better when she’s around.

The pile-on also started early. The clip was already circulating in a promo by October 18, days before the full episode aired with his explanation.

Rashmika seems happy, too. In her wedding post, she called him the man who taught her what true love feels like. A viral Reddit claim that she cried on set hasn’t been confirmed by anyone involved, so I’m not treating it as fact.

The verdict

Vijay may well be a loving husband in private, and Rashmika clearly adores him. But on that couch, he turned her year of patience into his punchline, then insisted he wasn’t the bad guy.

I’m not calling him a villain. I’m calling him what he was on that show: cringe.

Sources

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