Rashmika Mandanna on ‘The Girlfriend’: It’s going to be spoken about for many more years

Rashmika Mandanna says her upcoming film The Girlfriend is a “niche, thought-provoking story” that will be remembered for years. The actress opens up about fame, versatility, and why box office numbers don’t define her artistic choices.

Mumbai: Actress Rashmika Mandanna, who has been riding high on the success of his latest release “Thamma”, has spoken about handling fame, expectations, and her upcoming film “The Girlfriend”, which she believes will leave a lasting impact.

Talking about the kind of love and attention she receives, Rashmika said that she prefers to stay grounded despite the overwhelming fame.

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She told IANS: “Expectation, I know that, well, every film is not everyone’s cup of tea. But I still want to be that artist who’ll do a variety of films. For example, keep it Thamma right now. But I did have a release named Kubera, and before that was Chaava, and before that was Pushpa.”

“So, like every character, I want a variety of it. And that is the best and the best I can do for my audience because when they come and watch me, I want them to enjoy it.”

Rashmika said that she wants her audiences to feel the emotions that she’s trying to convey.

“I want them to be entertained. I want them to feel at ease and just enjoy their moment, you know? Because, as in, we have those two and a half, three hours in the theatre to make them feel at peace or just disconnect them from their everyday life. So I just feel that’s my responsibility.”

On not letting box office numbers dictate her choices, Rashmika said, “See, now the second I take all these numbers into consideration and start thinking, ‘Okay, I’ve made it,’ and all, then I won’t be able to push myself. I won’t be able to. Like tomorrow, I have a release named ‘The Girlfriend’.”

“It’s not about the numbers. I just feel like that’s an important story to be told. Because tomorrow, least do I care about, okay, how much is that going to do? But I know that that film is going to be spoken about for many more years to come.”

Describing “The Girlfriend” as “one of those niche, thought-provoking films,” the actress added: “It’s one of those niche, very thought-provoking films. And I feel like that’s equally important whilst I’m doing all these commercial films as well. So, yeah, it’s like… I don’t know where I’m going, but I’m going somewhere.”

“The Girlfriend”, an upcoming Telugu romantic drama, also stars Dheekshith Shetty. The film is directed by Rahul Ravindran.

The movie is scheduled for release on November 7, 2025, in multiple languages, including Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, Kannada, and Malayalam.

She will also be seen in “Cocktail 2” and “Mysaa”.