Raashii Khanna made her debut in the Hindi film industry with the 2013 film Madras Cafe. However, post that, she took a turn towards South Indian films and became a known name in Telugu, Tamil & Malayalam films. 

The actress is now making a comeback to Bollywood after 9 years with Ajay Devgn’s debut web series Rudra: The Edge of Darkness. 

In an exclusive interview with MensXP, we talked about her web show, her return to Hindi films and more. 

© Instagram/Raashi Khanna

When asked about why she didn’t do another Hindi film post her debut and made a name for herself in South Indian film industries she said, “I never thought I would become an actor. But when Madras Cafe happened I really enjoyed doing it and thought this is what I am destined to do. I then waited for the right projects to come my way but nothing really clicked in Hindi. So, I decided to rather wait for the right film. ”

She further added, “In the meanwhile, I think post-Madras Cafe, there was a lot of buzz in the South for me and they started offering me stuff there so, I went there. And even when I was working in the South, I never had this thought that I have to get back someday to Hindi films. I never thought of that. I was very happy sailing there also. And then this series came my way and other series and a film as well. So I went with the flow.” 

When pointed out that the sudden interest of Bollywood in the actors working in South Indian films could also be credited to the phenomenon that is “Pan-Indian Films” that have been going around in the last few years. 

© Instagram/Raashii Khanna

Raashii agreed and said, “Of course, I think post-Baahubali people started respecting South Indian cinema more which earlier they didn’t, let’s be honest. I think I was also one of those North Indians who used to think, ‘arey south ki movies kaun dekhta hai’ (who watches South Indian films). You know I was like that. I thought South was all about singing & dancing in terms of content and I was so wrong. Because when I went there, I realised they have such good content. Of course, there are commercial films but also there is great content there. And post-Baahubali, it just flooded the gates open and now there is great merger of north & south. And finally, now is the time we can say we are all Indian actors and not Bollywood actors or Tollywood actors. All those boundaries are gone. And I think it’s a great time to be an actor.”  

© Disney+ HotStar

Raashii will be seen playing a psychopath in Rudra: The Edge of Darkness which is slated to stream on Disney+ Hotstar from March 4.

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