Rashmika Mandanna compares Vijay Deverakonda performance in Ranabaali to Allu Arjun's in Pushpa 2 The Rule

Rahul Sankrityan's Vijay Deverakonda and Rashmika Mandanna-starrer Ranabaali hit screens on October 16 to mixed reviews.

Rahul Sankrityan’s Vijay Deverakonda and Rashmika Mandanna-starrer Ranabaali was released in theatres on October 16 to mixed reviews. The film’s team, however, held a press conference in Hyderabad on Friday evening to discuss the love it had received. Rashmika spoke about her husband Vijay’s performance in the film, comparing it to Allu Arjun’s in Sukumar's Pushpa 2: The Rule.

Vijay Deverakonda and Allu Arjun in stills from Ranabaali and Pushpa 2.

Rashmika Mandanna praises Vijay Deverakonda’s performance

Rashmika spoke about Vijay’s performance in 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?”

Deep Dive

What did Rashmika Mandanna say about Vijay Deverakonda’s performance in Ranabaali?

Why did Rashmika compare Vijay Deverakonda in Ranabaali to Allu Arjun in Pushpa 2?

Did Rashmika say Vijay Deverakonda’s Ranabaali performance was better than Allu Arjun’s in Pushpa 2?

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She also added that it took time for her to understand how much he had involved in the role, “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.”

Compares it to Allu Arjun’s Pushpa 2 performance

Rashmika then stated that Vijay’s involvement in his Ranabaali role reminded her of Arjun and Pushpa 2. Addressing the Pushpa actor and her husband by their nicknames, 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 spoke about how it was different from when she acted with Vijay before, too, “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. It felt different this time. For me, with the overall film, I have to say it’s him. He’s a one-man show.”

Says she and Vijay Deverakonda are one person now

When Rashmika was asked in Telugu how she feels about her husband’s success with Ranabaali, she said, “Bhartha (husband)...We share the same pain, we share the same happiness, we share the same joy, we share the same experiences, we are one person now. So, there’s no difference between how does his success feel to me or how does my success feel to him.”

Addressing how they’ve been dating a while before their Udaipur wedding in February, she added, “I think it’s been a while since we’ve stopped seeing each other as individual people. Now we’re one person, so for the rest of my life, and for the rest of his life, I feel like all our success is gonna be the same. So, I genuinely hope this becomes a huge blockbuster, as do all the films we do; I’ll be happy.”

Ranabaali also stars Arnold Vosloo as the main antagonist. It collected ₹9.25 crore net in India and grossed ₹16.15 crore worldwide on its opening day, according to the trade website Sacnilk.