'Pushpa 2' felt like homecoming, says Rashmika Mandanna
Rashmika Mandanna, who recently earned acclaim for her role as Geetanjali in Animal (2023), is gearing up for the release of her next, Pushpa 2: The Rule. Helmed by Sukumar and led by Allu Arjun, the sequel to Pushpa: The Rise—Part 1 (2021) will be released on August 15, 2024, clashing with Rohit Shetty's Singham Again, headlined by Ajay Devgn. In a recent interview with Pinkvilla, the actor opened up about the upcoming movie.
On working with director Sukumar, her performance
Mandanna opened up about working with the detail-oriented director Sukumar and the sky-high expectations for the pan-Indian venture. She explained that since her character, Srivalli, is Pushpa's (Allu) wife in part two, there will be a lot more on her plate, alongside a lot of drama, conflicts, and masala. Speaking about her performance in the sequel, she labeled it the "best she could give" on any given day. "It's up to the artist...how much they want to deliver," she said,
Reuniting with 'Pushpa' team for sequel
The actor also expressed her excitement about reuniting with Allu, Sukumar, and the rest of the Pushpa crew for the sequel. She gushed, "It starts feeling like home." "Like, when you finished one film, and toward the end of the film, you get really connected with the cast and crew, right, so when you have the part two coming, again you're like 'Hey, what's up?!' and [you're] just, sort of like, 'It's party time,'" Mandanna added.
Know more about the upcoming film's cast
Pushpa 2: The Rule is the fourth joint venture between Sukumar and Allu Arjun, following the Arya series and the 2021 blockbuster film Pushpa: The Rise—Part 1. The movie also stars Fahadh Faasil, Jagapathi Babu, Prakash Raj, Sunil, and more in key roles. Produced by Mythri Movie Makers and featuring music by National Award winner Devi Sri Prasad, it is one of the most anxiously awaited movies of 2024.
Allu hinted at threequel recently
Separately, not too long ago, Allu revealed that a third part is also on the cards. He told Variety, "You can definitely expect part three, we do want to make it a franchise and we have exciting ideas for the lineup." Also teasing Pushpa 2, he said, "[It] is going to have a very different shade of Pushpa than what you've seen in Pushpa 1, because it is the lower end of the spectrum that you've seen."
