Raashii Khanna is an Indian actress who predominantly works in Telugu and Tamil films. She made her acting debut in a supporting role with the Hindi film Madras Cafe (2013) and subsequently had starring roles in the Telugu film Oohalu Gusagusalade (2014), Tamil film Imaikkaa Nodigal (2018) and Malayalam film Villain (2017).

Khanna's commercially successful films include Bengal Tiger (2015), Supreme (2016), Jai Lava Kusa (2017), Tholi Prema (2018), Imaikkaa Nodigal (2018), Venky Mama (2019), Prati Roju Pandage (2019), Thiruchitrambalam (2022), and Sardar (2022), which established her as one of the leading actresses in Telugu and Tamil cinema. Khanna has also sung a few songs in different languages. She has since starred in the streaming series Rudra: The Edge of Darkness (2022) and Farzi (2023).

Early life

Khanna was born on 30 November 1990 and hails from Delhi. She did her schooling at St. Mark's Senior Secondary Public School, Delhi and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts with honours in English at Lady Shri Ram College, Delhi.

According to Khanna, she was an academic topper who was extremely studious, geek during her schooling and college days. When Khanna was young, she wanted to become a singer but as she grew up, she was more interested into studying and aspired to become an IAS officer. Khanna claims that she neither had interest in modelling nor thought of becoming an actress and it was her destiny that made her an actress. During her college days, she tried a hand at copywriting for advertisements, before she made her venture into acting in various advertisements prior to films.

Career

Debut and rise in Telugu cinema (2013–2015)

Khanna made her on-screen debut with a supporting role in the 2013 Hindi political spy thriller film Madras Cafe directed by Shoojit Sircar, where she played the role of Ruby Singh, the wife of an Indian intelligence officer portrayed by John Abraham, who was also the producer. She had to undergo acting workshops before taking up the role. The film—particularly the story and direction—impressed most Indian critics. Reviewing the film, Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV stated that Khanna "makes an impact in a brief but significant appearance". Madras Cafe was a box-office hit grossing more than ₹100 crore.

Impressed with her performance in Madras Cafe, actor Srinivas Avasarala approached her for the female lead role in his directorial debut Oohalu Gusagusalade, which also featured himself and Naga Shaurya in the lead roles, which she signed in late October 2013 after considering many other south films, adding that the scope of performing made her sign the film. Khanna initially felt that it would be more of a dancing role with little scope for acting when approached for narration, but found her character practically in every scene in the film. She called her character Prabhavati as a grey, stubborn, arrogant girl but in a lovable way, which she claimed to be very different from what she was in real life except for the fact that she hails from Delhi. Khanna confirmed in early April 2014 that she appeared in a small role in the Telugu film Manam, which had its theatrical release before Oohalu Gusagusalade. Oohalu Gusagusalade opened to positive reviews from critics and Khanna received praise for her work. Sangeetha Devi Dundoo of The Hindu called her an "actor with potential", while Hemanth Kumar of The Times of India stated that she gave a "commendable" performance which helped the movie to some extent. The film was a commercial success at the box office.

Success and further venture into other languages (2015–present)

Her next release was Bengal Tiger opposite Ravi Teja directed by Sampath Nandi. The film opened to mixed reviews but was commercially successful at the box office. It grossed ₹405 million (US$5.1 million) globally and became the 8th highest grossing Telugu film of 2015.

In 2016, her first release was Supreme, in which she starred alongside Sai Dharam Tej, and was a commercial success, with critics praising her comic-timing in her performance as Bellam Sridevi, a cop who gets into hilarious situations. Her next release was Hyper, opposite Ram Pothineni for the second time which opened to mixed reviews and was an average grosser at the box office.

In 2017, her first release was Jai Lava Kusa, opposite N. T. Rama Rao Jr. which opened to positive reviews and became a box office hit by grossing more than ₹100 crore. Later she made her Malayalam debut with Villain, starring Mohanlal and Vishal, directed by B. Unnikrishnan where she essayed a cop in the movie. The movie opened to positive reviews with critics praising her performance as a tough, investigating cop and the movie had a good run at box-office. Her last release of 2017 was Oxygen, marking her second collaboration with Gopichand, opening to mixed reviews and the movie went on to be an average grosser at the box office.

Upcoming projects

As of June 2023, Khanna is shooting for a Hindi film Yodha starring Sidharth Malhotra and a Tamil film Aranmanai 4 alongside Sundar C. and Tamannaah. Khanna has also signed a Telugu film alongside Sharwanand, tentatively titled as Sharwanand33, Khanna has completed shooting for a Tamil film, titled Methavi co-starring Jiiva and Arjun Sarja. In 2017, Khanna started shooting for a Tamil film Shaitan Ka Bachcha opposite Siddharth. The production status of the film is yet to be known.

Other work and public image

Khanna is considered as one of the most popular actors in Telugu cinema.[80] She stood at the 16th place on Forbes India's most influential stars on Instagram in South cinema for the year 2021. In February 2023, she topped IMDb's popular Indian celebrities weekly list. She has been widely praised for her performance in films such as Oohalu Gusagusalade, Bengal Tiger, Jai Lava Kusa, Tholi Prema and Prati Roju Pandage.

Khanna has frequently featured in Hyderabad Times' 30 Most Desirable Woman list. She was placed 28th in 2018, 15th in 2019 and 10th in 2020. She ranked 22nd in 2018 and 23rd in 2019 in Chennai Times' 30 Most Desirable Woman list. Khanna has started an initiative called #BeTheMiracle to distribute free meals to the needy in Hyderabad. She also launched an NGO called "Roti Bank" foundation, where she tied up with several NGOs that cater to the different needs and issues facing people during the COVID-19 pandemic in India.

Filmography

Films

Television

Discography

Awards and nominations