Vijay Deverakonda reacts to ‘red flag’ claims after Koffee With Karan 9 appearance with Rashmika Mandanna

Vijay Deverakonda has chosen satire over a formal defence. Days after his Koffee With Karan 9 appearance with wife Rashmika Mandanna drew a wave of online criticism, the Ranabaali star responded by sharing a comedy reel that mocks the armchair experts dissecting the episode.

The reel he shared

Vijay posted the clip, made by a content creator duo, to his Instagram Story with a short caption joking that it needed subtitles in regional languages. The sketch spoofs self-styled “Instagram psychologists” who treat every frame of a celebrity interview as evidence of a hidden personality flaw.

In the video, a woman goes through the episode with her partner and finds a “red flag” in almost everything. Vijay sitting on the right side of the couch, she claims, shows he always thinks he is right. A coffee cup placed beside him and not beside Rashmika becomes proof that he never offered her any. When her partner suggests Rashmika might simply not drink coffee, she says the offer could have been cut in the edit.

The sketch then turns to Vijay’s line about the one rule of marriage being to agree with your wife. The woman rattles off labels like narcissistic and patriarchal. When her partner asks her to explain, she refuses and says it is a red flag anyway.

It also takes on one of the most repeated criticisms online: that Vijay does not follow Rashmika on Instagram. The man in the sketch points out that his own partner does not follow him either, even though he has been asking for days. She immediately turns it around and calls him the real red flag.

Why the episode drew backlash

The criticism started soon after the episode went live and clips spread across social media. The couple spoke openly about their relationship, their marriage and their work together, but one story drew most of the attention. Vijay said that before he agreed to marry Rashmika, he had her ask him 100 times over the course of a year. Host Karan Johar seemed surprised that she actually went along with it. The two married in February 2026.

Many viewers saw the story as dismissive, and some called Vijay arrogant or disrespectful towards his wife. Others felt the anecdote was being taken far more seriously than it was told.

The bigger point

By sharing the reel, Vijay seems to be pushing back on the online habit of diagnosing public figures from seating arrangements, props and follow lists, a trend the sketch presents as overreach. He has not addressed the criticism directly.

The couple were most recently seen together on screen in Ranabaali, a period action drama directed by Rahul Sankrityan.