It wasn’t a high-profile teaser or a glamorous red carpet moment, but a simple student film clip featuring Gautam Ghattamaneni, son of superstar Mahesh Babu, that sent social media into a frenzy. The drama student from NYU’s Tisch School was seen in a short video alongside a girl wearing a Pakistani cricket jersey, a seemingly innocuous scene that quickly became the center of online controversy, especially amid escalating political tensions between India and Pakistan.
The clip, believed to be part of a classroom assignment, shows Gautam in an Indian jersey engaging in a flirtatious exchange with the Pakistani girl. Despite being fictional and set within the context of a student project, its release coincided with the sensitive timing of the Pahalgam terror attack and India’s subsequent hardline diplomatic response. As a result, the video faced heavy criticism online, with many questioning the appropriateness of the portrayal in such a charged political climate.
The backdrop of increasing tensions between India and Pakistan—fueled by India’s recent actions like revoking airspace access and suspending cooperation on key treaties—made the timing of the video highly sensitive. Even though the clip is purely fictional and created as part of Gautam’s academic work, social media users voiced concerns over its symbolism, sparking a wider debate.
Gautam, who is still honing his craft as a student, has not publicly addressed the backlash, and those close to the project have confirmed that the video was filmed much earlier and was intended solely for classroom purposes. However, in places like New York or London, South Asians often connect over shared cultural roots rather than political divides. Perhaps this was the underlying message the short film sought to convey—a friendship beyond borders.
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