Rise of Rashmika Mandanna: South star has films lined up with Big B, Ranbir
In a matter of five years, Rashmi Mandanna has managed to make a mark in Telugu and Kannada film industries, and has charmed her way into the hearts of the nation as the fiery Srivalli in the blockbuster Pushpa
Even before Pushpa – The Rise became a massive hit netting ₹365 crore at the box office, the heroine of the film, Rashmika Mandanna, had topped Forbes India’s most influential actors on social media list in October 2021.
The actor even beat top stars like Samantha, her Dear Comrade co-star Vijay Deverakonda, and Yash to head that list with 300 million followers on Instagram.
But, the nationwide success of her film with Allu Arjun, Pushpa – The Rise, has made her Bollywood’s current crush, as she has nearly three Hindi films in her bag, including projects with Big B and Ranbir Kapoor.
The makers of the Ranbir-starrer Animal announced on Saturday (April 2) that she had been signed up for the film. The Hindi-language crime drama is directed by Sandeep Reddy Vanga of Kabir Singh fame and backed by T-Series.
T-series announced Rashmika’s casting on its official Twitter account. “On the auspicious occasion of Ugadi & Gudi Padwa, we welcome @iamRashmika to the team of #Animal! Shooting begins this summer,” the tweet read.
On the auspicious occasion of Ugadi & Gudi Padwa, we welcome @iamRashmika to the team of #Animal!
Shooting begins this summer.@AnilKapoor #RanbirKapoor @thedeol @imvangasandeep #BhushanKumar @VangaPranay @MuradKhetani #KrishanKumar @anilandbhanu pic.twitter.com/BeNEQj6nyL— T-Series (@TSeries) April 2, 2022
Often referred to as ‘The National Crush of India’ owing to her massive popularity, the Coorg beauty cemented that title with the overwhelming success of Pushpa. It’s not surprising that Bollywood has signed her on, considering the industry’s legendary penchant for South Indian actresses from the time of Hema Malini, Rekha and Sridevi to more recent times with Vidya Balan, Asin and Deepika Padukone.
Today, Rashmika has Mission Majnu opposite Siddarth Malhotra and Goodbye with Big B. She is also being chased by brands for endorsements and is reportedly the face of nearly 10 brands.
Big banner entry
The 25-year-old Mandanna made her debut in Indian cinema with the top grosser Kannada movie, Kirik Party (2016). The makers of Kirik Party saw a picture of hers from a beauty competition and approached her to act in the film. On her entry into films, Rashmika had said in an interview, “I always wanted to be in films. I would watch actors receiving awards and thanking their parents in their acceptance speeches — that is something that I always wanted to do. But I honestly didn’t think that I would bag such a big movie. I would just say that I’m lucky.”
Luck stayed with the actor for, in a span of five years, she went on to act in some of the most successful movies. In 2018, she had two superhit romantic films in Telugu — Geetha Govindam with Vijay Deverakonda (her rumoured boyfriend) and Devadas with Nani and Nagarjuna. In Geetha Govindam, she played the role of an independent young woman, desperately wooed by Deverakonda who has to prove that he is a good guy. The film went on to become a sleeper hit and reviewers called Rashmika an actor with an “easy screen presence and the potential to handle more well-written parts”.
The next year, in she had Yajamana, where she was back in Kannada cinema. The film with Darshan went on to run for more than 100 days in Karnataka and was a huge commercial hit. She also had Dear Comrade, in which she played Lily, a state-level cricket player, who falls in love with the student union leader with anger issues, Bobby (Deverakonda). Lily takes Bobby on a journey of self-realisation and transformation. However, despite her earnest efforts to keep him off the path of violence, he gets drawn towards it and this attitude threatens to tear their relationship apart.
One of the reviewers said about her acting in the film: “The real star of the film is Rashmika Mandanna, who makes Lily one of the most memorable and strong female lead characters of recent times with her splendid performance. It’s amazing how she holds her own among a group of men and makes her presence felt.” Possibly, that is the secret to her success — her strong screen presence and acting skills help her to carve a space for herself.
Rashmika played a typical love interest in Mahesh Babu’s Telugu action drama Sarileru Neekevvaru, which also went on to become a top grosser. She did not have much of a role in this mass entertainer. After another masala entertainer, Bheeshma with Nithiin, and Pogaru with Dhruva Sarja, Rashmika made her debut in Tamil cinema with another commercial film, Sulthan.
The ‘Saami saami’ rage
But in Allu Arjun-led Pushpa, she held her own as Srivalli, the one that Pushpa falls madly in love with. Her song Saami Saami went viral on social media and her fan base grew. Now, she is all set to storm Hindi cinema, as she will make her debut with spy thriller Mission Majnu, opposite Sidharth Malhotra. She will also be seen in another Hindi movie Goodbye alongside megastar Amitabh Bachchan.
Taking to Instagram, Amitabh shared a picture of both of them together. In the picture, smitten by the Pushpa actress, the senior actor wrote: “Pushpa .. !!!”
Rashmika has said that working with Amitabh is simply everybody’s dream in an interview with a news channel. There’s a lot of responsibility that comes with it, but she wanted to focus on the chemistry with him, she said.
According to Rashmika, Bachchan Senior and she “hit it off”, the moment they met each other. “He is quiet as a person, but at the same time, there’s an immense amount of love that he shares with his co-stars and team. He’s a gem!” she said.
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Meanwhile, she will start shooting this summer for Animal, which also features Anil Kapoor and Bobby Deol. The film is slated to release on August 11, 2023. Earlier, actor Parineeti Chopra was cast in the film, but according to media reports she had to opt out of Animal because of scheduling conflicts.
Rashmika was engaged to the hero of her first Kannada film, Rakshit Shetty. However, they mutually broke off their engagement after a year. She is rumoured to be dating Deverakonda and the two are often spotted on dinner dates. In one interview, Rashmika had confessed that Deverakonda had helped her to get over her breakup with Shetty.re
Messages of positivity
Rashmika also posts messages of positivity on social media. Once she said, “The world’s a much better place with you in it! By you, I mean all of you. You all make me so happy and each one of you is so important. So, if any of you are finding today difficult painful or unbearable, I know how you feel. And so, know that here’s me sending you my love and power to get through today.
Rashmika Mandanna will also start shooting for the sequel of Pushpa – The Rise.
