Rashmika Mandanna

Rashmika Mandanna ( /ɾɐɕmɪkɑ mɐn̪d̪ɑn̪ːɑ/ born 5 April 1996) is an Indian actress who primaily works in Telugu and Hindi films. Her accolades include four SIIMA Awards and a Filmfare Award South. One of South India's highest-paid actresses, she was featured in Forbes India's 2024 list of "30 Under 30".
After a brief modelling career, Mandanna made her acting debut with the Kannada romantic comedy Kirik Party (2016) and gained further commercial success with the action film Anjani Putra and the romantic drama Chamak (both 2017). She debuted in Telugu cinema with the comedy drama Chalo (2018) and had her breakthrough with the romantic comedy Geetha Govindam (2018), which earned her the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress – Telugu. She went on to star as the leading lady in the action comedies Sarileru Neekevvaru (2020) and Bheeshma (2020).
Mandanna earned wider recognition with the pan-India success of the Telugu action film Pushpa: The Rise (2021). She played a supporting role in the period drama Sita Ramam (2022) and the female lead in the Tamil film Varisu (2023) before venturing into Hindi cinema with two unremarkable releases. She had her highest-grossing releases with the action dramas Animal (2023) and Pushpa 2: The Rule (2024), as well as the historical action film Chhaava (2025). Even so, her inclination towards androcentric films drew criticism for providing limited scope to showcase her acting abilities. In addition to acting, Mandanna serves as the ambassador of several brands and products.
Rashmika Mandanna was born on 5 April 1996 to Suman and Madan Mandanna into a Kodava Hindu family in Virajpet, a town in Kodagu district, Karnataka. Her father owns a coffee estate and a function hall in her hometown, and her mother is a homemaker. She has a younger sister, Shiman who she helped raise and felt like a maternal figure to. As a child, her family struggled financially, and had difficulties finding a home and paying rent; according to Mandanna, her parents could not afford to buy her toys and the experience has continued to taint her relationship with money.
Mandanna attended Coorg Public School, a boarding school in Gonikoppal. During this phase of her life, she was often misunderstood due to her struggles with communication, making connecting with her peers difficult. Mandanna credits her mother for being stabilising influence in her life and labelled her "my biggest strength".
Mandanna studied for a bachelor's degree in psychology, Journalism and English Literature at M. S. Ramaiah College of Arts, Science and Commerce in Bangalore. In 2014, Mandanna was awarded The Times of India's Clean & Clear Fresh Face that recognises individuals with the greatest potential for future success; the award was presented to her by Akshay Kumar and she was subsequently made a brand ambassador for Clean & Clear as part of the winning reward. This was followed by a brief career in modelling, which she believed would ease her transition into acting. Her parents were initially hesitant towards her pursuit of an acting career due to her unassertive personality, but they ultimately relented.
Mandanna began dating Rakshit Shetty, her co-star in Kirik Party, during the making of the film, and they announced their engagement on 3 July 2017 at a private party in her hometown Virajpet. They ended their engagement in September 2018, citing compatibility issues.
After noticing her win a pageant in 2015, Rishab Shetty offered Mandanna her debut in his Kannada romantic comedy Kirik Party (2016) opposite Rakshit Shetty. She was introduced as Saanvi, a college student with ambitions of becoming an engineer; Mandanna said she identified strongly with the character's studious nature and sense of being overlooked at school. Writing for The Times of India, Sunayana Suresh praised Mandanna's performance, writing that she "is easily that pin-up girl in college and she breathes her path". Kirik Party emerged as one of the highest-grossing Kannada films and her performance earned her the SIIMA Award for Best Debut Actress. Mandanna later revealed that if the film had failed, she would have returned home to manage her father's business. Her commercial success was sustained with her 2017 releases—the action film Anjani Putra and the romantic comedy Chamak. In the former, The Indian Express noted that the actress had been reduced to "a hero's arm candy", but in the latter, Firstpost's Karthik Kermalu commended Mandanna for enhancing a mediocre picture. For Chamak, she received her first Best Actress nominations at the Filmfare Awards South and the South Indian International Movie Awards (SIIMA).
Expanding into Telugu cinema in 2018, Mandanna starred in Chalo, a comedy drama about a Tamil woman who becomes romantically involved with a Telugu man (played by Naga Shaurya) in a heavily segregated village. Initially struggling with the new language, Mandanna sought help from the assistant director, who assisted her in improving her dialogue delivery. In mixed reviews of the film, Hemanth Kumar of Firstpost lauded her "terrific debut" and Stivathsan Nadadhur from The Hindu appreciated her comic timing. Chalo emerged as her fourth consecutive box-office success in two years. Mandanna was next cast opposite Vijay Deverakonda in Venky Kudumula's romantic comedy Geetha Govindam. Despite its shoestring budget, the film became her first to cross ₹1 billion (US$13 million) at the domestic box-office, her highest-grosser at that point. Critics considered the chemistry between her and Deverakonda to be the highlight of an otherwise monotonous film. She earned the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress and gained a Best Actress nomination at the ceremony. Mandanna ended the year with the Telugu feature Devadas, in which she was dismissed as ornamental by reviewers for Sify and The Indian Express.
The Kannada social action film Yajamana (2019) had a mixed reception from critics, with reviewers of the film notably criticising the significant age gap between Mandanna and Darshan. Regardless, it emerged as another commercial success for Mandanna. She then reunited with Deverakonda for the Telugu romantic drama Dear Comrade, in which she played Lilly, an aspiring cricket player who faces sexism and discrimination from within the sport. Sashidhar Adivi of Deccan Chronicle commented that the role reflected a shift in Telugu cinema, where heroines were being given more substantial roles rather than serving purely as visual appeal. As the film marked a departure from Mandanna's previous lighthearted roles, to prepare for the part she underwent five months of intensive physical training to accurately emulate a cricket player's body language. Despite high expectations following her previous collaboration with Deverakonda, Dear Comrade underperformed commercially. It also faced extensive criticism from audiences due to a scene featuring a kiss between the pair; in response, Mandanna stated that she was carrying out the script's demands and that a sole scene should not dictate the entire film. She later admitted that she struggled with the online backlash that followed the film’s release. Despite this, Yajamana and Dear Comrade brought Mandanna awards attention; she earned Best Actress (Critics) awards in Kannada and Telugu, respectively, as well as additional Best Actress nominations in both languages at the ceremony.
She began the new decade opposite Mahesh Babu in the action comedy Sarileru Neekevvaru, which went on to become a top-grossing Telugu film. However, Sangeetha Devi Dundoo of The Hindu bemoaned that her role did not offer her adequate scope to perform as "all she gets to do is fawn over Mahesh". She then featured in the romantic comedy Bheeshma opposite Nithiin, in which Karthik Keramalu dismissed her as ornamental once again. The film achieved commercial success at the box-office and Mandanna received another nomination for Best Actress (Telugu) at Filmfare.
In 2021, Mandanna starred opposite Dhruva Sarja in Pogaru, which Vivek M V of Deccan Herald termed "A riot of toxic masculinity". In her second release of the year, she made her debut into Tamil cinema opposite Karthi in the action drama Sulthan. She expressed that working across languages is important to her as she does not wish to view language as a barrier and, instead, views it as an opportunity to establish herself across industries. Though Hindustan Times' Haricharan Pudipeddi felt that Mandanna had been "sidelined", M Suganth of The Times of India praised her on a "charming debut". It emerged as a moderate commercial success.
Her final appearance of 2021 was in the critically and commercially successful Telugu action film Pushpa: The Rise, starring Allu Arjun. For her role as a girl involved in the smuggling syndicate of red sandalwood, she learnt the Chittoor dialect of Telugu with support from a tutor. Film Companion's Mukesh Manjunath found that she did her "best to imbue bubbliness and the innocence required in these testosterone-charged surroundings" but lamented that the brown-facing of her character was "unnecessary and ineffective". However, Divya Nair of Rediff.com observed that the female characters in the film were reduced to serving solely as visual appeal. Ranking among the highest-grossing Telugu films of all time, the film marked a significant breakthrough in Mandanna's career as she earned pan-India recognition for it, particularly for the song, "Saami Saami", which gained popularity. Additionally, she received Best Actress nominations at both SIIMA and Filmfare for her performance.
The following year, Mandanna starred in a string of films with varying levels of success. She started with the unremarkable Telugu feature Aadavallu Meeku Johaarlu opposite Sharwanand. Keen to showcase her acting skills after a series of androcentric films, she took on a supporting role in the Dulquer Salmaan and Mrunal Thakur-led romantic drama Sita Ramam. Citing it as one of her better films, Sangeetha Devi Dundoo appreciated that Mandanna is "given the scope to play a self-centred character" and showed that she is willing to take on well-written roles. Against expectations, the film emerged as a success at the box-office and Mandanna earned her first nomination for Best Supporting Actress (Telugu) at Filmfare.
Initially set to debut in Hindi cinema with Mission Majnu, delays in production led Mandanna to make her first appearance alongside Amitabh Bachchan in Vikas Bahl's family drama Goodbye, portraying a career-driven woman struggling to come to terms with the loss of her mother (played by Neena Gupta). She was initially hesitant to accept the role as she found it difficult to essay a character with dismissive views towards religious rituals, which significantly contrasted with her own faith in them. Although the film was a financial failure, Mandanna's performance was well received by Devesh Sharma of Filmfare, who praised the subtlety she brought to her scenes and her ability to "leave an impact even in this non-glamorous debut". However, Renuka Vyavahare of The Times of India criticised Mandanna's Hindi diction but noted that she still retained the "essence" of her Punjabi character. She earned the Zee Cine Award for Best Female Debut for her performance.
2023 saw Mandanna in three action films—Varisu, Mission Majnu and Animal. Varisu follows a young heir (played by Vijay) who takes over his family's business empire after his father's death, with Mandanna starring as his love interest. She labelled it a "conscious choice" to star in the film despite having a role "with nothing to do" due to the recognition she would receive from Vijay's celebrity. M Suganth concurred that her role was insubstantial and dismissed her as merely ornamental. It emerged as a modest commercial success. The unremarkable Hindi spy thriller Mission Majnu featuring Mandanna as a visually-impaired woman opposite Sidharth Malhotra, premiered digitally on Netflix following several delays in production. In preparation, she participated in intensive workshops to better her understanding on the behaviours of the visually-impaired and found it challenging not to be able to look Malhotra in the eyes during their scenes together. Her performance was poorly received; in a scathing review for Rediff.com, Sukanya Verma wrote that "Wearing a nose ring and smiling in response to everything is Rashmika's role in a nutshell".
Sandeep Reddy Vanga's controversial Animal—starring Ranbir Kapoor—cast Mandanna as Geetanjali, a devoted housewife who learns of her husband's (Kapoor) debauched behaviours. She replaced Parineeti Chopra during filming as Vanga felt she was better suited for the role. The film's content led certain commentators to accuse the film of glorifying toxic masculinity and misogyny. WION's Shomini Sen praised Mandanna for salvaging a poorly-written character that had been constrained by Vanga's focus on "a skewed version of an alpha male". Mandanna defended her role in the film against criticism that her character condoned misogyny. Animal ranks as the third highest-grossing Indian film of 2023, grossing over ₹9 billion (US$110 million).
In 2024, Mandanna reprised her role as Srivalli in the Telugu action sequel Pushpa 2: The Rule. Nandini Ramnath of Scroll.in was appreciative of her chemistry with Allu Arjun and added that she "has several strong sequences to justify her presence" in an androcentric narrative. The Indian Express's Anandu Suresh was displeased with the hypersexualisation of her role, and took note of a recurring theme in her filmography of playing the love interest of "unnervingly eccentric" men. Mandanna defended the representation of toxic masculinity in both the Animal and Pushpa franchises, explaining that such individuals exist in reality, and their hyperbolic depiction is a "cinematic liberty intended to entertain the audience". Pushpa 2: The Rule set several box-office records for an Indian film, earning over ₹18 billion (US$210 million) worldwide to rank as Indian cinema's third biggest-grosser, as well as Mandanna's highest-earner.
In Laxman Utekar's historical action film Chhaava (2025), Mandanna portrayed Maharani Yesubai Bhonsale opposite Vicky Kaushal as Maratha Chhatrapati Sambhaji. To prepare for their roles, Kaushal and her spent four weeks learning Marathi. Reception to Mandanna's performance was generally negative; Kusumika Das of Times Now was appreciative of her "striking visual presence", but felt that she still struggled with her Hindi diction and was unimpressed with the emotional depth in her performance. Grossing over ₹7.8 billion (US$91 million), Chhaava emerged as the highest-grossing Hindi film of 2025. She next featured in AR Murugadoss' action film Sikandar opposite Salman Khan, who is 31 years her senior. Rishabh Suri criticised her poorly written role and persistently weak Hindi dialogue delivery. Rahul Desai of The Hollywood Reporter noted a prevailing theme in Mandanna's filmography of "catering to the middle-class Indian patriarch’s biggest fantasy" by playing subservient women whose sole purpose is to decorate their husband's masculinity. Commentators have particularly criticised the diminished depth of the actress's roles in Hindi cinema, especially in contrast to the more varied and layered roles she portrayed in South Indian cinema. Sikandar failed to recoup its estimated ₹2 billion (US$23 million) investment.
Mandanna will next star in two Telugu films and a Hindi film: she will star alongside Dhanush in Sekhar Kammula's Telugu-Tamil-Hindi trilingual film Kuberaa and headline the female-led film, The Girlfriend; she will join the Maddock Horror Comedy Universe, alongside Ayushmann Khurrana, in the romantic horror film Thama. Filming for Kubera and Thama were delayed in January 2025, when Mandanna sustained a leg injury at the gym.
Sneha Menon Desai of Film Companion notes Mandanna's sincerity and "down-to-earth personality", while Anupama Chopra, also from Film Companion, describes her as "intelligent" and acknowledges her ability to resonate with audiences.
In 2024, Mandanna was featured by Forbes India in their 30 Under 30 list and the Indian edition of GQ named her among South India's highest-paid actresses. She 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. As of August 2024, Mandanna is the most-followed Kannada actress on Instagram.
Mandanna is an endorser for several brands and products, including McDonald's, Dabur Honey, Cashify, Kalyan Jewellers and Bisk Farm among others. In 2023, she was made the first Indian ambassador for Japanese fashion brand Onitsuka Tiger. She and Tiger Shroff were named "strategic partners" of American streaming service Crunchyroll for their efforts to expand in India. As an ambassador for Onitsuka Tiger, she attended Milan Fashion Week and walked the runway, while for Crunchyroll, she presented an award at the 8th Crunchyroll Anime Awards in Japan. She serves as both an ambassador and investor for Plum, a vegan beauty and personal care brand.
In November 2023, a deepfake of Mandanna was posted on the platform X by digital marketer Eemani Naveen. Her face was morphed on to a sexually suggestive Instagram video posted by a British-Indian influencer named Zara Patel. In response, Mandanna 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". She received support from prominent figures in Indian cinema, including her Goodbye co-star Amitabh Bachchan, who spoke out against the dangers of such deepfakes. In December 2023, Delhi Police "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. In January 2024, Naveen was arrested; he claimed he had created the deepfake to gain followers on Instagram. Following the incident, Mandanna was appointed as the national brand ambassador of the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C).