Rashmika Mandanna to star alongside Ranbir Kapoor in crime-drama ‘Animal’, replaces Parineeti Chopra

South star Rashmika Mandanna has joined actor Ranbir Kapoor starrer crime drama ‘Animal’. Indian trade analyst and film critic Taran Adarsh confirmed the news on his Twitter handle.

The crime-drama is directed by Sandeep Reddy Vanga of ‘Kabir Singh’, ‘Arjun Reddy’ fame and produced by Bhushan Kumar and Krishan Kumar’s T-Series, Pranay Reddy Vanga’s Bhadrakali Pictures and Murad Khetani’s Cine1 Studios. The movie is scheduled to release in theatres on August 11, 2023.

T-series announced Mandanna’s casting on its official Twitter account. “On the auspicious occasion of Ugadi and Gudi Padwa, we welcome @iamRashmika to the team of #Animal! Shooting begins this summer,” the tweet read.

Mandanna, who works primarily in Kannada and Telugu films, is best known for her performances in movies such as ‘Geetha Govindam’, ‘Devadas’, ‘Yajamana’, and ‘Dear Comrade’.

The actor, whose last release was Allu Arjun-led ‘Pushpa’, is set to make her Bollywood debut with spy thriller ‘Mission Majnu’, opposite Sidharth Malhotra. She will also be seen in another Hindi movie ‘Goodbye’ alongside megastar Amitabh Bachchan.

‘Animal’, which will start shooting this summer, also features actors Anil Kapoor and Bobbly Deol.

Originally, actor Parineeti Chopra was cast in the film, but according to media reports she had to opt out of ‘Animal’ because of scheduling conflict.