Actress Rashmika Mandanna has opened up about her journey across Kannada, Telugu, Tamil and Hindi cinema, saying her multilingual career was never part of a carefully planned strategy but developed naturally as new opportunities came her way.
Mandanna, who comes from Karnataka’s Kodagu region, said language has never been a barrier for her. She explained that her mother tongue is Kodava Takk and that there is no major film industry producing films in the language, which helped make working across other languages feel natural to her.
‘I treat all languages as my own’
Speaking to Hindustan Times, Mandanna said her fans, whom she describes as her “family,” initially encouraged her to explore Telugu cinema. Similar suggestions later led her towards Hindi films, gradually expanding her career across different Indian film industries.
She said she treats the different languages she works in as her own and does not view them as professional barriers.
Mandanna also addressed comments about her accent and language skills. She said that being able to respond to people in their own language is, for her, a way of showing respect to audiences from different parts of the world.
The actress described herself as a “Jack of all trades, master of none” when discussing her command of different languages.
Rashmika focuses on acting rather than criticism
Mandanna said she does not pay much attention to what she considers unnecessary discussion about her accent. Instead, she prefers to concentrate on portraying her characters effectively and contributing to the story.
“As an actor, my job is to tell good stories on set and come back,” she said, adding that every film involves the combined efforts of an entire team.
She said her approach is to focus on her own responsibilities rather than interfere with the work of others, while trying to deliver her best performance in every project.
Mandanna’s career began with the Kannada film Kirik Party in 2016. She subsequently entered Telugu cinema with Chalo, Tamil cinema with Sulthan and Hindi cinema with Goodbye, building a career across four major Indian film industries.