Rashmika’s Biggest Challenge: Forgetting Rashmika

Rashmika Mandanna is playing the titular role in MS Subbalakshmi’s biopic, and the project was launched the other day in Chennai. Speaking at the event, Rashmika expressed her happiness and thanked the late MS for choosing her to take the story forward. However, this speech is currently subject to criticism on social media. Many netizens point out that Rashmika should have shown more seriousness at the event, rather than smiling extensively and trying to make the situation look silly. Although it is not something to take seriously, her biggest challenge is convincing the audience that she can pull off such a huge responsibility.

Among the biopic trends in Indian cinema, especially in South Indian cinema, the biopic of actress Savitri, titled Mahanati and directed by Nag Ashwin, made Keerthy Suresh a pan-Indian star. Given the ups and downs in Savitri’s life, Keerthy Suresh delivered a great performance and even won a National Award for it. Fortunately, Keerthy did not have a strong image, and she was relatively less popular at that time. No one imagined Keerthy could pull off Mahanati with such ease, and in the end, it surprised everyone.

Now, Rashmika’s case is a little different. Rashmika has already proved her mettle in many glamorous and author-backed roles. Be it Dear Comrade, Pushpa, or The Girlfriend, Rashmika is undoubtedly a good actor. But to imagine herself in a biographical film, that too, of a legend like Bharatha Ratna MS Subbulakshmi, is getting difficult. Rashmika’s off-screen persona often dominates the imagination of the actress reprising MS on screen. However, Gowtam Tinnanuri, who delivered emotional films like Jersey, can be trusted with this project; in fact, no one has commented on the choice of director.

If Rashmika carries the film well and meets audience expectations, she will grow beyond her image as a National Crush. Moreover, it will also be an important milestone for the director. After Mahanati, this project will have wide reach and appeal across the country, and if Rashmika can dodge the criticism, she will climb many steps ahead in her career and stand tall among her contemporaries.

In fact, Sai Pallavi’s name did the rounds for some days for playing MS on the screen, but finally, the project has fallen into the lap of Rashmika. Actors like Sai Pallavi, Keerthy Suresh, and even Anushka Shetty, who have led many female-centric films, have a completely different off-screen persona, so there is less criticism when projects like these get announced. But Rashmika is known for her cool attitude and is very candid in public, which can sometimes put her on the spot, as in the current situation. But at the end of the day, success and audience acceptance can put an end to everything!