Rashmika Mandanna facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Rashmika Mandanna
Mandanna promoting Chhaava in 2025
Born	(1996-04-05) 5 April 1996 (age 29) Virajpet, Karnataka, India
Alma mater	Ramaiah Institute of Technology
Occupation	Actress
Years active	2016–present

Rashmika Mandanna, born on April 5, 1996, is a popular Indian actress. She mainly acts in Telugu and Hindi movies. She has won many awards, including four SIIMA Awards and a Filmfare Award South. Rashmika is known as one of the highest-paid actresses in South India. In 2024, Forbes India included her in their "30 Under 30" list.

After a short time as a model, Rashmika started acting in 2016. Her first movie was the Kannada romantic comedy Kirik Party. She became even more successful with films like Anjani Putra and Chamak in 2017. She then began working in Telugu movies with Chalo (2018). Her big breakthrough came with the romantic comedy Geetha Govindam (2018). This role earned her a special award for Best Actress. She also played the main female role in action comedies like Sarileru Neekevvaru (2020) and Bheeshma (2020).

Rashmika became widely known across India with the success of the Telugu action film Pushpa: The Rise (2021). She had a supporting role in the drama Sita Ramam (2022). She then starred as the main actress in the Tamil film Varisu (2023). She also started acting in Hindi movies. Her highest-earning films include the action dramas Animal (2023) and Pushpa 2: The Rule (2024). She also starred in the historical action film Chhaava (2025).

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About Rashmika Mandanna

Her Early Life

Rashmika Mandanna was born on April 5, 1996. Her parents are Suman and Madan Mandanna. She grew up in a Kodava Hindu family in Virajpet, Karnataka. Her father owns a coffee farm and a place for events. Her mother takes care of their home. Rashmika has a younger sister named Shiman. Rashmika helped raise her sister and felt like a mother figure to her.

She went to Coorg Public School, which was a boarding school. When she was younger, she sometimes found it hard to talk to others. Rashmika says her mother helped her a lot and was her biggest support.

Her Education and First Steps into Acting

Rashmika studied for her bachelor's degree in psychology, journalism, and English literature. She attended M. S. Ramaiah College in Bangalore. In 2014, she won The Times of India's Clean & Clear Fresh Face award. This award recognizes young people with great potential. Akshay Kumar presented her with the award. She then became a brand ambassador for Clean & Clear.

After winning the award, she worked as a model for a short time. She thought modeling would help her get into acting. Her parents were not sure about her acting career at first. They thought she was not assertive enough. But they eventually agreed.

Personal Life

Rashmika Mandanna dated Rakshit Shetty, her co-star from Kirik Party. They announced their engagement in July 2017. However, they ended their engagement in September 2018.

Rashmika's Acting Journey

Starting Out and Becoming Known (2016–2020)

In 2015, Rishab Shetty saw Rashmika win a beauty pageant. He offered her a role in his Kannada romantic comedy Kirik Party (2016). She played Saanvi, a college student who wanted to be an engineer. Critics praised her performance. Kirik Party became one of the highest-earning Kannada films. Rashmika won an award for Best Debut Actress. She later said that if the film had not done well, she would have gone back home to help with her father's business.

Her success continued in 2017 with the action film Anjani Putra and the romantic comedy Chamak. For Chamak, she received her first nominations for Best Actress awards.

Mandanna at a press conference for Dear Comrade in 2019. She won a SIIMA Best Actress award for this film.

In 2018, Rashmika started acting in Telugu cinema with Chalo. She played a Tamil woman who falls in love with a Telugu man. She found it hard to learn the new language at first. An assistant director helped her improve her dialogue. Critics liked her performance. Chalo was her fourth successful movie in a row.

Next, she starred with Vijay Deverakonda in the romantic comedy Geetha Govindam. This film was made with a small budget. But it became her first movie to earn over ₹1 billion (about US$13 million). This was her highest-earning film at that time. Many critics felt that the chemistry between Rashmika and Vijay was the best part of the movie. She won an award for Best Actress and was nominated for another. She finished 2018 with the Telugu film Devadas.

In 2019, her Kannada social action film Yajamana was released. It was another commercial success for her. She then worked with Vijay Deverakonda again in the Telugu romantic drama Dear Comrade. She played Lilly, a cricket player who faces challenges in the sport. To prepare, she trained physically for five months. Even though the film did not earn as much as expected, Rashmika received awards for her roles in Yajamana and Dear Comrade.

She started 2020 with Mahesh Babu in the action comedy Sarileru Neekevvaru. This film became a top-earning Telugu film. She then appeared in the romantic comedy Bheeshma with Nithiin. This film was also a commercial success. Rashmika received another nomination for Best Actress.

Growing Fame and Success (2021–Present)

In 2021, Rashmika starred in Pogaru with Dhruva Sarja. Her second film of the year was her debut in Tamil cinema. She starred with Karthi in the action drama Sulthan. Rashmika believes working in different languages is important. She sees it as a chance to become known in many film industries. Critics praised her charming debut. The film was a moderate success.

Mandanna promoting Pushpa: The Rise in 2022

Her last film of 2021 was the very successful Telugu action film Pushpa: The Rise. She starred with Allu Arjun. For her role as a girl involved in smuggling, she learned a special Telugu dialect. This film was a huge success and became one of the highest-earning Telugu films. It was a big moment for Rashmika's career. She gained recognition all over India, especially for the popular song "Saami Saami". She also received Best Actress nominations for her performance.

In 2022, Rashmika appeared in several films. She started with the Telugu film Aadavallu Meeku Johaarlu. She then took on a supporting role in the romantic drama Sita Ramam, starring Dulquer Salmaan and Mrunal Thakur. Critics liked her performance in this film. It became a box-office success. Rashmika earned her first nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

She was supposed to start her Hindi film career with Mission Majnu. But due to delays, her first Hindi film was Goodbye with Amitabh Bachchan. She played a career-focused woman dealing with the loss of her mother. Rashmika was unsure about the role at first. This was because her character had different views on religious rituals than her own. Even though the film did not earn much money, critics liked Rashmika's acting. She won an award for Best Female Debut.

In 2023, Rashmika starred in three action films: Varisu, Mission Majnu, and Animal. In Varisu, she played the love interest of the main character, played by Vijay. She said she chose this role for the recognition she would get from working with Vijay. The film was a modest success. The Hindi spy thriller Mission Majnu premiered on Netflix. Rashmika played a visually-impaired woman. She attended workshops to understand the role better.

Sandeep Reddy Vanga's Animal starred Ranbir Kapoor. Rashmika played Geetanjali, a devoted wife. She joined the film after another actress left. Animal became the third highest-earning Indian film of 2023. It earned over ₹9 billion (about US$108 million).

Mandanna promoting Pushpa 2: The Rule in 2024

In 2024, Rashmika returned as Srivalli in the Telugu action sequel Pushpa 2: The Rule. Critics praised her chemistry with Allu Arjun. Pushpa 2: The Rule broke several box-office records for an Indian film. It earned over ₹18 billion (about US$216 million) worldwide. This made it Indian cinema's third biggest-earner and Rashmika's highest-grossing film.

Her first film of 2025 was Laxman Utekar's historical action film Chhaava. She played Maharani Yesubai Bhonsale opposite Vicky Kaushal as Maratha Chhatrapati Sambhaji. To prepare, she and Vicky learned Marathi for four weeks. Chhaava earned over ₹8 billion (about US$96 million). This made it the highest-earning Indian film of 2025. Rashmika became the first Indian actress with three films earning over ₹5 billion (about US$60 million) in India.

She then appeared in AR Murugadoss' action film Sikandar with Salman Khan. She also played a love interest in Sekhar Kammula's Telugu-Tamil film Kuberaa with Dhanush. Both Sikandar and Kuberaa did not earn back their production costs.

Rashmika will next star in the Telugu film The Girlfriend. She will also join the Maddock Horror Comedy Universe in the romantic horror film Thama with Ayushmann Khurrana. She is also set to star with Shahid Kapoor and Kriti Sanon in the sequel to Cocktail. Filming for some of her upcoming movies was delayed in January 2025. This happened after Rashmika hurt her leg at the gym.

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
	Chamak	Kushi
2018	Chalo	L. Karthika	Telugu	Telugu debut
	Geetha Govindam	Geetha
	Devadas	Pooja
2019	Yajamana	Kaveri	Kannada
	Dear Comrade	Aparna "Lilly" Devi	Telugu
2020	Sarileru Neekevvaru	Samskruthi
	Bheeshma	Chaithra
2021	Pogaru	Geetha	Kannada
	Sulthan	Rukmani	Tamil	Tamil debut
	Pushpa: The Rise	Srivalli	Telugu
2022	Aadavallu Meeku Johaarlu	Aadhya
	Sita Ramam	Afreen/Waheeda
	Goodbye	Tara Bhalla	Hindi	Hindi debut
2023	Varisu	Divya	Tamil
	Mission Majnu	Nasreen Hussain	Hindi
	Animal	Geetanjali Singh
2024	Pushpa 2: The Rule	Srivalli	Telugu
2025	Chhaava	Maharani Yesubai	Hindi
	Sikandar	Saisri Rajkot
	Kuberaa	Sameera	Telugu Tamil
	The Girlfriend	TBA	Telugu	Completed
	Thama	TBA	Hindi	Filming

Music video

Awards and Nominations