Raashi Khanna

Raashi Khanna (born 30 November 1990) is an Indian film actress and singer who predominantly works in Telugu and Tamil language films. She made her debut as an actress with the Hindi film Madras Cafe (2013) and subsequently made her debut in Telugu with Oohalu Gusagusalade (2014), in Tamil with Imaikkaa Nodigal (2018) and in Malayalam with Villain (2017).

She appeared in many commercially successful films like Bengal Tiger (2015), Supreme (2016), Jai Lava Kusa (2017), Tholi Prema (2018), Imaikkaa Nodigal (2018), Venky Mama (2019), Prati Roju Pandage (2019) and established herself as one of the leading actresses in Telugu and Tamil cinema.

Khanna made her debut as a singer with the film Joru (2014) and also sang for films Villain (2017), Balakrishnudu (2017), Jawaan (2017), Prati Roju Pandage (2019).

Khanna was born on 30 November 1990 in Delhi. She did her schooling at St. Mark's Senior Secondary Public School, Delhi and completed her graduation in B.A. English (Hons.) from 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. She was a copywriter for advertisements before she made her venture into acting in various advertisements prior to films.

Debut and subsequent rise in Telugu cinema (2013–2015)

Khanna made her debut with the 2013 Indian 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 crores.

Telugu debut

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.

Rise through the ranks

Her next Telugu film was Joru, directed by Kumar Nagendra opposite Sundeep Kishan, which she signed after Madras Cafe and while shooting for Oohalu Gusagusalade. She played the role of Annapurna, whom Khanna described as a "modern yet traditional" girl who "is highly emotional and cries at the drop of a hat", which she called the exact opposite of the character of Prabhavati she played in her previous film.Sangeetha Devi Dundoo of The Hindu stated that she provides solace along with Kishan, Brahmanandam and Saptagiri in a film which was "let down by incoherent writing and amateurish execution".Joru was a commercial failure at the box office.

Khanna's next was Jil, directed by Radha Krishna Kumar opposite Gopichand, which she signed in early July 2014 after the makers approached her considering her performance in Oohalu Gusagusalade. The film received mixed reviews from the critics. In early May 2015, she was signed for the film Shivam alongside Ram Pothineni, The film received negative reviews from the critics and performed poorly at the box office.

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

In 2015, 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$5.7 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, 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 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. was opened to positive reviews and became a box office super-hit grossing more than 100 crores. Later she made her Malayalam debut with Villain, starring Mohanlal and Vishal, directed by B. Unnikrishnan where she essayed a cop in the movie, Later 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. Later the movie went on to be an average grosser at the box office.

In 2018, Her first release was Touch Chesi Chudu,marking her second collaboration with Ravi Teja. Though the movie went on a huge hype pre-release, it later opened to mixed to negative reviews and was unsuccessful at the box office, within a span of one week her next release was Tholi Prema, opposite Varun Tej, which opened to critical acclaim from critics and audience alike, with critics greatly praising her performance as Varsha as her best ever performance, and also the sparkling chemistry between lead pair. Her next release was Srinivasa Kalyanam, opposite Nithiin, directed by national award winner Satish Vegesna was opened to mixed reviews but the chemistry between lead pair was appreciated. Her next release was a multi-starrer Imaikkaa Nodigal, marking her debut in Tamil cinema opened to highly positive reviews with critics praising her performance as a girl-next-door character and was commercially successful at box office. Her next release in Tamil was Adanga Maru, opposite Jayam Ravi. which generally received positive reviews.

In 2019, Her first release was Ayogya opposite Vishal, which was an official remake of the 2015 Telugu hit, Temper which received generally positive reviews from audience and critics. Her next release was Sangathamizhan opposite Vijay Sethupathi which opened to mixed reviews but received praise for her performance. In December 2019, She had two releases, Venky mama opposite Naga Chaitanya and Venkatesh Daggubati which received mixed reviews and Prati Roju Pandage marking her second collaboration with Sai Dharam Tej, which received generally positive reviews with critics praising her comic-timing in her performance as "Angel" Aarna, a highly self-obsessed girl from the local town, Rajahmundry. Both the films were commercially successful at the box office.

Her first release in 2020 was World Famous Lover opposite Vijay Deverakonda. She is currently shooting for Aranmanai 3 along with Arya. She is due with the release of Shaitan Ka Bachcha opposite Siddharth.