With over 30 million followers on Instagram, netizens have declared Rashmika Mandanna as the national crush. By all counts, it is a modern-day social media enhanced postmodern phenomenon in the making. A young girl from south India, who turns 26 today, has a nationwide fan following despite her regional body of work, her limited cinematic credentials and obvious language barrier.
The Mandanna Phenomena underlines one thing very clearly. The country, the society and the times we are living in have changed. Today we are essentially a multicultural mish-mashed gruel that has lost all its exclusivity and purity. And this gruel has spread fast and has mass acceptability being served right into our bedrooms through OTT platforms and social media apps. Today, social media is flooding with warm wishes and all the love millions of people have in their hearts for the smiling queen, Rashmika Mandana. This new post-modern phenomenon has to be understood, accepted, lived in, and celebrated.
In a short period, Rashmika has become the most loved South Indian actress by leaving an impressive mark all over India, even before her debut in Bollywood. With the help of her natural looks, expressions and remarkable acting skills, she has made a special place in the acting industry. Rashmika will soon make her Bollywood debut with Mission Majnu with Sidharth Malhotra whose last stint in Shershah brought him many accolades.
Also read | Celebrating A.R Rahman's birthday with playlist of his songs
The South Indian movie industry is becoming bigger and more popular by the day. Movies of the day such as Dear Comrade, Arjun Reddy, Pushpa, RR and Bahubali are becoming a cult and garnering immense views with the help of Ott platforms and dubbing in multiple languages. Simultaneously, stars such as Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Sai Pallavi, Allu Arjun, and Vijay Deverkonda are stars that even the Hindi speaking audience admires and looks up to.
Rashmika started her acting career with the hit Kannada film 'Kirik Party opposite Rakshit Shetty and then there was no turning back for her. After success in Kannada movies, the actress moved made her debut in Telugu movies with 'Chalo'. Movies like 'Geetha Govindam', 'Devadas', 'Dear Comrade', were her biggest hit movies which have earned her fame throughout the country.
Her recent Telugu film Sukumar's Pushpa: The Rise has turned out to be a blockbuster. Her impeccable performance as Srivali left a remarkable impression on the audience’s minds with her appearance as a village belle. Her amazing chemistry with the stunning actor Allu Arjun grabs everyone's hearts and gathered everybody's attention.
During a speech at She Mpower Women Conclave, Rashmika says, "If you cannot dream and protect yourself, nobody else can. It’s okay if someone is laughing at you. It’s okay if someone is pulling your leg, pulling you back down, it’s okay. You just keep working hard."