Rashmika Mandanna: Vijay has always been my best friend

Rashmika Mandanna

In a world where friends are few, South star Rashmika Mandanna has found one in Vijay Deverakonda. While the world has deduced that there is more than what meets the eye between the two South imports, Mandanna, who is all set to make her Bollywood debut with Shantanu Bagchi's Mission Majnu, says it is friendship but she no longer cares to classify it. "I have no family in the film [industry]. Vijay has always been my best friend. We have grown up together in this industry. [While I don't actively seek advice from him], if a situation arises, I always go to him."

Vijay Deverakonda

In an earlier interview, Mandanna credited the Geetha Govindam and Dear Comrade co-star for helping her recover from her break-up with Rakshit Shetty. But do the link-up rumours with Deverakonda bother her? "Just because I want the rumours to stop, they will not. People will talk. So, I have stopped addressing them," says the actor, adding that with the offers in her kitty, work is her sole focus.

Rashmika Mandanna with Sidharth Malhotra

The Pogaru actor, who just wrapped up a schedule of Mission Majnu opposite Sidharth Malhotra, has already begun shooting for her second Bollywood project, Goodbye with Amitabh Bachchan. "Before the lockdown, a lot of offers came my way, but I couldn't juggle them with my commitments in South. When I read the script of Mission Majnu followed by Goodbye, I decided to time my films better," says Mandanna of the spy thriller also starring Sharib Hashmi and Kumud Mishra.

Rashmika Mandanna and Amitabh Bachchan

"[Unlike popular belief], I won't be doing any action in this one." The film revolves around the changed relationship between India and Pakistan after a covert operation in 1970-1980 goes kaput.