Actor Madhoo has backed Rashmika Mandanna over criticism of her South Indian accent, praising the way she laughed it off on Koffee With Karan, The Times of India reported. Her support follows that of screenwriter and lyricist Javed Akhtar, who defended Rashmika on X on Sunday.
What Rashmika said
On the show, Rashmika said the criticism had never bothered her. "They said I had a South Indian accent, but I am from the South of India. So I am going to have an accent. It's unreasonable to think otherwise," she said.
Madhoo's message
In a video on Instagram, Madhoo said, "She laughs about it, she accepts it, she owns it, calls herself a South Indian... And she's so cool about it, and I am really in love with that."
"It took me 30 to 35 years"
Madhoo said that when she started out in Hindi films, she feared being judged for being South Indian. "I tried to get an Urdu teacher and bettered myself in Hindi, doing anything and everything so that I wouldn't get caught out because of my accent," she said.
She used to feel proud when people said her Hindi was better than a native speaker's, she said, but her view has changed. "Today, I am so proud to say that I am a South Indian. If I make a mistake in Hindi or my accent has the thickness of a South Indian, I am okay with it. But it took me 30 to 35 years to get here."
"Rashmika, great power to you, girl!" she added.
Rashmika's next films
Rashmika was last seen in the period action drama Ranabaali with her husband Vijay Deverakonda. She is working on the action thriller Mysaa and is part of Atlee's science-fiction film Raaka with Allu Arjun and Deepika Padukone.