Rashmika to start shooting for ‘Pushpa 2: The Rule’ with Allu Arjun

Actress Rashmika Mandanna, who has been getting a lot of positive response to her work in the recently released Ranbir Kapoor-starrer film ‘Animal’, will start shooting for the second part of her franchise film, ‘Pushpa 2: The Rule’ with Telugu superstar Allu Arjun on December 13.

As per an industry source, the actress will shoot for the sequel in Hyderabad. In the first part of the film, the actress essayed the role of Srivali and instantly became a national crush, Allu Arjun’s stellar dancing made the song a huge hit.

Talking about the actress’s shooting schedule, the source said: “Rashmika Mandanna is extremely happy with the love and praise she is receiving for the film Animal. Immediately after the massive success of Animal, Rashmika will begin the shoot for the highly ambitious and blockbuster franchise ‘Pushpa 2: The Rule’ on December 13 in Hyderabad. The actress will be reprising her iconic role of Srivali in the film starring Allu Arjun.”

Meanwhile, ‘Animal’ which has set the box-office on fire, has been criticised by certain section of the audience for the treatment of its female character. Rashmika recently penned a long note for her character of Gitanjali in the film and expressed her love for the same, calling her the power centre of the family.

The actress will also be seen in the female-oriented film ‘The Girlfriend’. 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. 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 Rs:132 crores against a budget of Rs: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.

Agencies