Rashmika Mandanna compares Vijay Deverakonda performance in Ranabaali to Allu Arjun's in Pushpa 2 The Rule

Rahul Sankrityan's Vijay Deverakonda and Rashmika Mandanna-starrer Ranabaali was released in theatres on October 16 to mixed reviews. The film's team, however, held a press conference in Hyderabad on Friday evening to discuss the love it had received. Rashmika spoke about her husband Vijay's performance in the film, comparing it to Allu Arjun's in Sukumar's Pushpa 2: The Rule.

(Also Read: Sandeep Reddy Vanga calls Vijay Deverakonda next defining action hero of Indian cinema in his Ranabaali review)

Rashmika spoke about Vijay's performance in Ranabaali and said, "When I was seeing Ranabaali be Ranabaali, there's a full difference between Vijay and Ranabaali. Completely. Even on set, when I would speak to him off shooting, there's one sense of Ranabaali. I'm like, where is Viju? You know?"

She also added that it took time for her to understand how much he had involved in the role, "It took me time, but I understood with what gravitas he's performing, at what level he's performing it. When you do some characters, they just consume you fully. Every cell of you feels those emotions, that performance. So, I watched all that. This was a very new experience for me."

Rashmika then stated that Vijay's involvement in his Ranabaali role reminded her of Arjun and Pushpa 2. Addressing the Pushpa actor and her husband by their nicknames, she said, "Of course, there was a similar experience in Pushpa 2 when Bunny sir was doing that. Bunny sir as Bunny sir and Bunny sir as Pushpa were two different people."

She spoke about how it was different from when she acted with Vijay before, too, "Like that, when I saw Viju...I've seen him personally at home. When I saw him on set, it was just different. The actors who perform know the feeling. But genuinely speaking, we did Geetha Govindam and Dear Comrade, I feel like Ranabaali and Jayamma touched me. It felt different this time. For me, with the overall film, I have to say it's him. He's a one-man show."

When Rashmika was asked in Telugu how she feels about her husband's success with Ranabaali, she said, "Bhartha (husband)...We share the same pain, we share the same happiness, we share the same joy, we share the same experiences, we are one person now. So, there's no difference between how does his success feel to me or how does my success feel to him."

Ranabaali also stars Arnold Vosloo as the main antagonist. It collected ₹9.25 crore net in India and grossed ₹16.15 crore worldwide on its opening day, according to the trade website Sacnilk.