After Ranabaali released and garnered mixed reviews, Rashmika Mandanna and Vijay Deverakonda held a press conference in Hyderabad. During the interaction, Rashmika spoke about Vijay’s transformation for the film and how his performance reminded her of Allu Arjun in Pushpa 2. She also reflected on how their latest characters impacted her.
Rashmika on similarities between Vijay and Allu Arjun
At the promotional event in Hyderabad, Rashmika spoke about Vijay’s transformation for Ranabaali and said, “When I was seeing Ranabaali be Ranabaali, there’s a full difference between Vijay and Ranabaali. Completely. Even on set, when I would speak to him off shooting, there’s one sense of Ranabaali. I’m like, where is Viju? You know? It took me time, but I understood with what gravitas he’s performing, at what level he’s performing it. When you do some characters, they just consume you fully. Every cell of you feels those emotions, that performance. So, I watched all that. This was a very new experience for me.”
Rashmika then stated that Vijay’s involvement in his Ranabaali role reminded her of Allu Arjun and Pushpa 2. Addressing the Pushpa actor and her husband, she said, “Of course, there was a similar experience in Pushpa 2 when Bunny sir was doing that. Bunny sir as Bunny sir and Bunny sir as Pushpa were two different people.”
She also spoke about how this experience differed from acting with Vijay before, saying, “Like that, when I saw Viju… I’ve seen him personally at home. When I saw him on set, it was just different. The actors who perform know the feeling. But genuinely speaking, we did Geetha Govindam and Dear Comrade, I feel like Ranabaali and Jayamma touched me.”
More about Ranabaali
On Friday, just before Ranabaali released, a Bengaluru court granted ex parte interim relief against false and defamatory content about the Vijay Deverakonda and Rashmika Mandanna-starrer. The film, directed by Rahul Sankrityan, has since had its BookMyShow reviews and ratings disabled. It has garnered mixed reactions, with viewers appreciating the lead pair’s chemistry and power-packed dialogues while criticising the screenplay, pace and background score. The film is set against the devastating backdrop of the Great Madras Famine of 1876.
Rashmika compares Vijay's Ranabaali transformation to Allu Arjun’s Pushpa
