Producer: Smitha TK
Video Editor: Abhishek Sharma
“I am this girl who cannot work in projects that is only appreciating my looks.”Rashmika Mandanna
Whether it is a press conference or setting the stage on fire with dance moves, Rashmika Mandanna has become a favourite of the shutterbugs. After churning out blockbuster hits in Kannada and Telugu, the actor is all set to raise the bar this time.
The actor’s upcoming film Dear Comrade with Vijay Deverakonda of Arjun Reddy fame will be hitting the screens on 26 July. Originally made in Telugu, Dear Comrade will be dubbed and released in Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam.
Rashmika Mandanna started her career with the Kannada film Kirik Party which became a blockbuster hit. She then made waves in the Telugu film industry with Chalo, Geetha Govindam and Devadas, and scoring a hattrick-hit in the same year.
The Quint caught up with Rashmika Mandanna and discussed her role as a cricketer, what questions journalists should stop asking female actors, and her favourite films.
After Geetha Govindam, you are acting in a different role, you are a boss-level sports star. So tell what homework went into this?
A lot of homework went into this... I’ve never played cricket before and suddenly someone slams on my face saying, ‘You need to play cricket...’ and I am like ‘Um no... I don’t play.. should I play ?’ And they were like ‘Yes you should play.’ And I said, ‘Oh okay fine... chalo... this is something new... let’s get this done..’ Then I rehearsed for close to five months, everyday waking up at 5am, which I never do in life... never did. And yeah it went on and now I can play with the boys in gully cricket and I am that good.
I am awesome.
In this trailer we see a lot of you, though posters say ‘Vijay Deverakonda in Dear Comrade...’ Do you think there is a gradual progression towards having women more in the frame... (getting) more screen space. How do you feel when you get scripts or offers?
There was one time when women weren’t given too much screen space and now I see it changing. And there are films coming out only with women, which makes me truly happy because I think, one it is how they choose... (that is how) any one of us choose the films we want to be a part of. And two, it (posters) having ‘Vijay Deverakonda in Dear Comrade’ is a sense of marketing. But that is a drive for me to be like, ‘Arey! I wanted it to be like XYZ actor with Rashmika Mandanna in this film’.
“I am this girl who cannot work in projects which is only appreciating my looks, or my face. If I am in the film, there should be something my character is giving to the film to drive it forward.”
What are the questions you wish journalists stopped asking female actors?
Female actors - if you are single or not. I don’t understand why a girl in the industry should always be committed, or should be married or should...whatever. Women and men do the same amount of work, they wake up at the same time, they gym at the same frequency or whatever. I think one of the questions which pisses me off is, ‘Are you single’ and if you are single, ‘Why are you single ?’ I am single because I am single. I don’t know why. If some guy comes into my life, I will probably marry off right now. You never know.
One hero-centric film you would’ve aced?
Aced it? I am not so confident about films I’ve not done. I get confident of my film when I am a part of it, when I know it personally... that’s when I get confident of the film. The kind of films I’d really want to be a part of is Aruvi... which is an amazing movie. I’ve watched it some 10-15 times. I liked Super Deluxe, I liked Mersal... I really liked it... even though it was so small... like everyone had bits and pieces to do but they all did it so well. Maybe that’s why I feel like I wanted to be a part of it.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)