Rashmika Mandanna facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Rashmika Mandanna
Rashmika in 2022
Born	(1996-04-05) 5 April 1996 (age 28) Virajpet, Karnataka, India
Alma mater	M. S. Ramaiah College
Occupation	Actress
Years active	2016–present

Rashmika Mandanna (/rəʃmɪkɑː mənðənɑː/; born 5 April 1996) is an Indian actress who works in Telugu, Kannada, Tamil and Hindi films. She is a recipient of four SIIMA Awards and a Filmfare Award South, She won the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress – South for her performance in the Telugu romantic comedy Geetha Govindam (2018).

Her most commercially successful films include Kirik Party (2016), Geetha Govindam (2018), Sarileru Neekevvaru (2020), Pushpa: The Rise (2022), Varisu (2023) and Animal (2023).

Early life and education

Rashmika Mandanna was born on 5 April 1996 in a Kodava family to Suman and Madan Rashmika in Virajpet, a town in Kodagu district of Karnataka. She completed her early schooling from Coorg Public School in Kodagu. She studied for a bachelor's degree in Psychology, Journalism and English Literature at the M. S. Ramaiah College of Arts, Science and Commerce in Bangalore.

Career

Early work and breakthrough (2016–2020)

In 2016, Rashmika made her acting debut in Kirik Party, which went on to become one of the highest-grossing films of the year in Kannada. Sunavana Suresh of The Times of India praised Rashmika in the film stating, "Rashmika Mandanna as Saanvi is easily that pin-up girl in college and she breathes her path." She won a SIMA Award for the Best Debut Actress for the role. In 2017, she appeared in two Kannada films, Anjani Putra and Chamak both becoming commercially successful at the box office.

Rashmika in 2019

In 2018, Rashmika expanded to Telugu cinema with the comedy-drama film, Chalo opposite Naga Shourya. Stivathsan Nadadhur of The Hindu reviewed, "The makers try to slot Rashmika Mandanna into the lively-bubbly space of a female lead and she makes a confident Telugu debut." The film was a commercial success at the box office. Rashmika's second release of 2018 was another Telugu film with the Venky Kudumula-directed Geetha Govindam opposite Vijay Deverakonda. The film was Rashmika's highest grosser up to that point with a gross of ₹132 crores against a budget of ₹5 crores. However, the movie garnered mixed reviews from critics with Haricharan Pudipeddi of Firstpost stating, "Geetha Govindam, despite its flaws, is a film that gets most things right associated with its genre." She earned the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress - South for the role. Rashmika's final release of 2018 was the Sriram Adittya directorial, Devadas. Although it was a commercial success, Rashmika was said to be, "deprived of speaking lines," by Manoj Kumar R of The Indian Express.

In 2019, Rashmika returned to Kannada movies with the commercially successful Yajamana opposite Darshan. The age gap between the two leads was criticised by Karthik Keramalu of Film Companion. Rashmika's second and final release of 2019 was the Telugu film Dear Comrade, reuniting her with Devarkonda. However, unlike their previous release, the film failed at the box office marking Rashmika's first commercial failure. The film sparked outrage due to a scene in which Devarkonda and Rashmika are seen kissing with Rashmika defending the scene stating ''The particular scene in the film demanded it and I should do justice to my role. No movie should be judged solely on the basis of a lip-lock scene. It should be seen as a whole''.

In 2020, Rashmika starred opposite Mahesh Babu in the Telugu film Sarileru Neekevvaru, which went on to become one of the highest-grossing Telugu films. However, the film received negative reviews from critics with Rashmika's role being criticised. Sangeetha Devi Dundoo of The Hindu opined, "This isn’t a part by which Rashmika can be judged, because all she gets to do is fawn over Mahesh''. In the same year, she starred in the Telugu film Bheeshma opposite Nithiin, which received critical and commercial acclaim.

Career expansion (2021–present)

In 2021, her first release was with the Dhruva Sarja starrer Pogaru. Rashmika was criticised for taking on a role in a movie with "stereotypes that demean women" by Vivek M V of the Deccan Herald. In Rashmika's second release of 2021, she made her debut in Tamil cinema opposite Karthi in the commercially successful Sulthan. Although credited as a lead, Haricharan Pudipeddi of Hindustan Times found that Rashmika had appeared to have been, "sidelined". However, M Suganth of The Times of India had a different take, praising Rashmika on her "charming debut". Rashmika's final appearance of 2021 was the critically and commercially successful Pushpa: The Rise starring Allu Arjun about the rise of a coolie, Pushpa Raj, in the smuggling syndicate of red sandalwood. The film was a significant breakthrough in Rashmika's career as she gained national recognition for her role as Srivalli. Mukesh Manjunath of Film Companion found that Rashmika, "does her best to imbue bubbliness and the innocence required in these testosterone-charged surroundings" but added that "her brown-facing is unnecessary and ineffective".

Rashmika at an event for Pushpa: The Rise in 2022

In 2022, she had three releases. Rashmika first starred in the unremarkable Telugu feature, Aadavallu Meeku Johaarlu as Aadhya opposite Sharwanand. She then had a supporting role in the Dulquer Salmaan and Mrunal Thakur-led Telugu film, Sita Ramam. The movie garnered critical acclaim and was a major success at the box office. Haricharan Pudipeddi of Hindustan Times appreciated Rashmika's portrayal of "a character that goes through a transformation," and thought that it is "well brought out by her performance". In her final release of 2022, Rashmika appeared in the Amitabh Bachchan starrer, Goodbye, marking her debut in Hindi cinema. The film became a box-office bomb. Despite this, Devesh Sharma of Filmfare found Rashmika's scenes to be "as natural as can be" and that she managed to "leave an impact even in this non-glamorous debut". Her performance in the film earned her the Zee Cine Award for Best Female Debut.

Rashmika had a string of releases in 2023 starting with her second Tamil film, Varisu opposite Vijay which went on to become one of the highest-grossing films of Tamil cinema. Nevertheless, M Suganth of The Times of India opined that Rashmika was simply "arm candy" in the film. In the same month, Rashmika starred in her second Hindi film with the spy thriller, Mission Majnu opposite Sidharth Malhotra. The film received negative reviews from critics due to its unduly nationalistic views. Deepanjana Pal criticised Rashmika's character opining, "Rashmika Mandanna's Nasreen is about as important to the plot as the third spare wheel of a two-wheeler." Her third and final release of 2023 was the Hindi action film, Animal opposite Ranbir Kapoor. Acknowledging the film's misogynistic tone, Rahul Desai of Film Companion found Rashmika’s acting in a key confrontation scene with Kapoor's character to be "a race against time", adding that "the result isn’t pretty". Despite mixed reviews from critics, Animal emerged a commercial success.

Rashmika is next set to reprise her role as Srivalli in the sequel Pushpa 2: The Rule.

Personal life

Rashmika began dating her co-star Rakshit Shetty during the making of Kirik Party, with the couple getting engaged on 3 July 2017 in a private party at her hometown of Virajpet. However, the couple mutually broke off their engagement in September 2018, citing compatibility issues.

In the media

Rashmika in 2022

Rashmika was placed at the 24th position in Bangalore Times' 25 Most Desirable Women of 2016 and also appeared in the Bangalore Times' 30 Most Desirable women of 2017. In October 2021, she placed first in Forbes India's most influential stars on Instagram in South Cinema.

In November 2023, a deepfake of Rashmika was created and posted on the platform X with her face being morphed onto an Instagram video posted by a British-Indian woman named Zara Patel. Rashmika released a statement saying she was, "[scared] not only for me, but also for each one of us who today is vulnerable to so much harm because of how technology is being misused". The video has amassed millions of views across all social platforms and numerous voices of support from prominent figures in Indian cinema, including Amitabh Bachchan, have spoken out against the dangers of these deepfakes. As of 13 November 2023, there is no information on the creator of the deepfake, however, Delhi Police "have communicated with Meta to obtain the URL ID associated with the account responsible for generating the video", and filed a First information report (FIR) in relation to the case.

Filmography

Films

Key

Denotes films that have not yet been released

Year	Title	Role(s)	Language(s)	Notes	Ref.
2016	Kirik Party	Saanvi Joseph	Kannada
2017	Anjani Putra	Geetha	Kannada
	Chamak	Kushi	Kannada
2018	Chalo	L. Karthika	Telugu
	Geetha Govindam	Geetha	Telugu
	Devadas	Pooja	Telugu
2019	Yajamana	Kaveri	Kannada
	Dear Comrade	Aparna "Lilly" Devi	Telugu
2020	Sarileru Neekevvaru	Samskruthi	Telugu
	Bheeshma	Chaithra	Telugu
2021	Pogaru	Geetha	Kannada
	Sulthan	Rukmani	Tamil
	Pushpa: The Rise	Srivalli	Telugu
2022	Aadavallu Meeku Johaarlu	Aadhya	Telugu
	Sita Ramam	Afreen (Waheeda)	Telugu
	Goodbye	Tara Bhalla	Hindi
2023	Varisu	Divya	Tamil
	Mission Majnu	Nasreen Hussain	Hindi
	Animal	Geetanjali Singh	Hindi
2024	Pushpa 2: The Rule	Srivalli	Telugu	Filming
	Rainbow	TBA	Telugu	Filming
	The Girl Friend	TBA	Telugu	Filming

Music video

Awards and nominations