Just a couple of days ago, the song Nadive from The Girlfriend was released, featuring Rashmika Mandanna and Dheekshith Shetty in the lead. The film is directed by Rahul Ravindran, with music composed by popular Malayalam composer Hesham Abdul Wahab. Now streaming on YouTube, Nadive has attracted attention — not just for its music, but now for a different reason. Netizens are pointing out striking similarities between this song and a private track titled Neeve, composed by Phani Kalyan and released eight years ago.
Interestingly, Neeve already has over 50 million views on YouTube. Viewers have noted that both songs share similar music, choreography and even costume styles. In Neeve, actors Shreya Deshpande and Niranjan Shaw starred in the music video. Although they may not be widely known, the song gained immense popularity online. What surprises many is that the team behind The Girlfriend—including Hesham Abdul Wahab, who has worked on several Telugu films—did not appear to notice or acknowledge these similarities.
Even the choreography and outfits seem closely aligned with Neeve, sparking questions among audiences about whether the song was inspired or copied. The controversy is further magnified by the fact that the film is being presented by top producer Allu Aravind.
