Rashmika Mandanna has often found herself at the centre of online criticism over her accent. But the actor says she has never wanted such comments to limit the kind of work she takes up. Speaking on the latest episode of Koffee With Karan season 9 where she appeared with her actor-husband Vijay Deverakonda, she opened up about the trolling she has faced.
What Javed said
Now lyricist and writer Javed Akhtar has commented on the trolling of the actor. He called Rashmika a ‘Tamil actor’ and wrote on X, “Those who have any problem with the pronounciation of Tamil actor Rashmika should be given a few lines of Tamil which is the oldest spoken language in the world and let’s see how well they pronounce Tamil . This fake and baseless linguistic superiority is not acceptable.”
Rashmika Mandanna on facing criticism
Rashmika said that criticism has followed her since the beginning of her career. From her acting to the languages she speaks, she has faced comments about several aspects of her work. However, she never wanted those opinions to dictate her career choices or stop her from exploring different industries.
“Ever since I started working in the film industry, you know, I’ve been criticised or trolled for one thing or the other, like either my performance, or the language, or the acting, or just the accent, or anything. So for me, I never wanted to sort of put a barrier for myself. I didn’t want to just work in one industry. I wanted to work in them all. I didn’t want to speak just one language. I wanted to speak all languages,” she said.
“So very early on in my career, I started doing all kinds of films. So today, when I’m a part of a brilliant film like an Animal and a Girlfriend, it gives me great satisfaction as an actor. Yeah? You know, because I’m like, I’m able to play them all. So today, when you say, okay, there’s a Girlfriend and there’s an Animal, like it’s so different, but you’re a part of both of them. I’m like, I wanted it that way,” she added.
Rashmika’s Hindi dialogue delivery has repeatedly drawn attention on social media, with some viewers questioning her accent in Hindi films. The debate resurfaced after the release of the horror comedy Thamma in 2025 and Cocktail 2 in 2026. Her performances in Animal, Chhaava and Sikandar also attracted similar reactions.
Rashmika, however, said she does not understand why having a South Indian accent should be treated as a problem. “I particularly didn’t have an issue with that because 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 stated.