INTERVIEW: How Rashmika Mandanna soaks in stardom, busy schedule and fan love

Bagging opportunities to work with some of the most popular heroes of Tollywood is not an easy task for any heroine. More than glamour, acting skills and attractive demeanour, they need some luck as well.

Sometimes, the first two films decide the fate of the heroine and it will be visible whether she will sustain in the industry or not.

With three back to back hits in Tollywood, actress Rashmika Mandanna, has come up against all odds to become one of most sought after heroines of Tollywood now. In an exclusive interview, the actress talks about her successful career, upcoming films, her involvement in postproduction and a lot more.

While one film is ready for release, you have 5 more in production. Too busy, right?

Yeah. For the next one to one-and-a-half year, I am completely busy. I have given my dates to all the five films in Kannada, Telugu and Tamil. I always wanted to be busy and finally, I am. I want to make more and more films. Becoming an actress was never in my priority list. But now, as I know how important my work is to be and what does being an actress means, I love my job and want to excel in it. I actually feel that I am still taking my baby steps and I have a long way to go.

What kind of scripts do you look for? Content-driven or commercial?

Whether it is content-driven or commercial, I look for scripts which offer a strong role. I don't want to do films which offer me nothing but some duets and glamorous scenes. Unless I feel that my role has a strong foundation in the story and I have a meaty role, which gives me scope to perform, I don't say yes to the story. Fortunately, I am getting scripts which are content-driven.

You are just 3 films old in T'town and now, the leading lady in Mahesh Babu, Allu Arjun and Nithiin's films. We call it an achievement. What do you say?

I am really glad to be part of Sarileru Nekevaru (Mahesh Babu) and Icon (Allu Arjun). I am overwhelmed with all the love I have got from the Telugu audience. The scripts of these films are exciting and I have a good role to play. The cast and the technical team is also so good that I didn't want to miss being part of any of the films. The team of Nithiin's Bheeshma, is the team of my first film. Venky Kudumula's Chalo is my debut film in Telugu and working with the same team again is such a happy thing.

You have a lot of fan pages on Twitter and you respond to them with lot of patience. How do you handle so much of love?

My father taught me that whoever loves you, just smile back at them and be happy that you are being loved so much. I follow that basic rule of life. I don't know what I have done to receive so much of love. I don't want to hurt any of them and so, I reply to all of them with loads of love and patience.

You are making your Tamil debut with Karthi's next. Excited?

Very much excited. I grew up watching Tamil films too and I can understand the language very well thought I am not so fluent at speaking. But yes, I am very much better at speaking Tamil, than Telugu. Excited to be part of the film. It is yet to go on floors and I will take some time in taking part in the shoot.

We heard you're involved in a lot in post-production. That's really a good thing to know. Is it out of interest?

I cannot say 'goodbye' to the team on the last day's shoot. It is my responsibility to know how the work is going on when my date of dubbing is and the changes being made. I sit with the editor and know how it is going. The technical team also feel happy with the actors involve in minute things, which actually make a lot of difference. But yes, not every team would like the involvement of actresses especially. I make sure I call the producer and follow up.