(Picture Courtesy: Facebook)
Rashmika Mandanna, the talented girl which we have all seen in Rakshit Shetty’s ‘Premam’-like movie ‘Kirik Party’, has soared to superstardom and all thanks to her stunning screen presence and charm. She was born in April 5, 1996 in Vijapet, Karnataka and from being a small-town girl, to a star having a net worth exceeding Rs 100 crores as per reports, there is a lot of hardwork and commitment. Before becoming one of India’s most celebrated pan-Indian actresses Rashmika stood in front of a camera for the first time with visible nervousness. She introduced herself softly saying, “Hi, I am Rashmika. Age is 19. Height is 5’5. I am studying BA second year and this is the first time auditioning for something.”
(Picture Courtesy: Facebook)
In the first segment she appears in a red dress and her straight hair neatly framing her nervous smile. She holds her hands together out of respect, showing innocence and shyness. The clip shows her attempting Kannada dialogues but struggling. At one point she admits, “I’m not getting it, I can’t do it.”
Confidence grows in the second segment of the audition
As the audition continues, a shift becomes visible. In the next portion of the clip Rashmika appears in a floral outfit and looks more relaxed. The video captures her giving her now-famous tongue-out expression. Her confidence begins to appear naturally even though she is still working through the lines.
(Picture Courtesy: Facebook)
We can see that in the second segment, Rashmika breaks into dance, performing energetic moves to ‘Aaja Nachle’, the iconic number originally picturised on Madhuri Dixit.
(Picture Courtesy: Facebook)
How her real breakthrough arrived with ‘Kirik Party’ and other acheivements
Her big break did not come directly from this audition. It arrived soon after through the 2016 Kannada romantic comedy Kirik Party which was directed by Rishab Shetty.Rashmika had already gained attention after winning a beauty pageant in 2015 and this helped her step into modeling career and later into cinema. Rishab noticed her and felt she had the freshness needed for his heroine. She was cast opposite Rakshit Shetty whom she later dated and got engaged to during the film’s making.
The film that rewrote her career graph
‘Kirik Party’ turned out to be a massive blockbuster. It became the highest-grossing Kannada film of 2016 and changed Rashmika’s life overnight. Rashmika played the role of Saanvi in the movie which grossed over Rs 50 crores at the box office. Our official ETimes review for the film read,Rashmika Mandanna as Saanvi is easily that pin-up girl in college and she breathes her path. Samyuktha Hegde, on the other hand, as the bubbly Aarya, has a tough act to follow given the peppy first half and impresses by holding her own in crucial scenes.” We also gave the movie a 4 star rating out of 5.‘Kirik Party’s huge reception opened doors quickly. She soon appeared in Kannada hits like Anjani Putra with Puneeth Rajkumar. She also played the lead role in the 2017 film ‘Chamak’. Slowly Rashmika made her strong mark in Kannada film industry.
Becoming the ‘National Crush’
Following her strong Kannada run, Rashmika stepped into Telugu cinema where she delivered major hits such as ‘Geetha Govindam’, which made her one of the most loved heroines in the industry. The 130 crore grosser gave her the ‘National Crush’ status and this was all due to her bubbly charm. The song ‘Inkem Inkem Inkem Kaavaale’ had a seperate fan base. Remember Instagram influencers frequently using this song in their reels? Well ‘Geetha Govindam’ was the film that made people fall in love with Vijay Deverakonda and Rashmika Mandanna’s chemistry. Later both of them were seen together in ‘Dear Comrade’ in the year 2019. Although the movie didn’t trend like ‘Geetha Govindam’, ‘Dear Comrade’ was a decent hit. Later came the big break in her career which gave her stardom and it was none other than the Allu Arjun starrer ‘Pushpa’.Although there were some criticisms to the Srivalli character, it was indeed yet another memorable role played by Rashmika Mandanna. In ‘Pushpa 2’ we saw a more mature and ‘Politically correct’ Srivalli and also it showed that Rashmika has a knack to play mature and raw kind of roles. Her climax dialogues in the film proved her versatility in performances that shift from not-so-serious to serious and intense sequences. Now she has proved it again with the romantic drama film ‘The Girlfriend’. Today, Rashmika Mandanna’s success shows us that nervous girl in the audition tape didn’t just survive, she soared and proved with hardwork and passion one can make their dreams become reality.
