Malavika Mohanan, who has been juggling several projects across industries, has courted controversy for her recent remarks on the acting preparedness of female actors in Tamil and Telugu industries.

In a roundtable interview with Galatta Plus, the Hridayapoorvam actor underlined how many female actors in both these industries "don't look at their lines" while acting in front of the camera and instead, choose to mouth numbers or alphabets which can be later altered during the dubbing process in post-production. She criticised their acting methodologies, noting how some of these established stars have been doing this throughout their careers.

"In Tamil and Telugu films, for the longest time, I know a few female actors where they don't even bother to look at the line. So in the scene, when you are sad, and you are making a sad expression and just counting 1,2,3,4 or its A,B,C, D. So, if you are angry at your lover in a scene, then they say A,B,C, D because at some point they feel they will match their lips to the dialogues in the dubbing. This is not a one off instance. There are actors who have done this their entire careers (sic)," Malavika explained.

The comments have come under massive fire from audiences and users on social media who called it "arrogant" and attacked her for her acting skills. They further expressed their anger on the actor for "speaking ill of everyone." Another section of the audience, meanwhile, stood in support of her words who said that she has the rights to criticise.

Malavika Mohanan was recently seen in a key role in Prabhas' The Raja Saab, directed by Maruthi. The fantasy horror comedy film was released earlier this month to mixed reviews from audiences and critics. In Tamil, she starred in Thangalaan, helmed by Pa Ranjith in 2024. Up next, she will be seen starring alongside Karthi in his much-anticipated Sardar 2.