Shy Raashii ran away from her first audition

Getting into films was totally unplanned for Raashii Khanna, but destiny has its own ways. And today she’s established herself as a popular actor in Telugu and Tamil films. Currently she’s filming for the Malayalam remake of Andhadhun, and lined up next is her web debut opposite Shahid Kapoor.

Hailing from Delhi, she had IAS on her mind when showbiz came calling. “I was modelling while in college. That, too, happened all of a sudden as I was put on magazine covers and commercials. I was a very shy kid and thought acting is not my cup of tea. I ran from my first audition! From that to suddenly becoming a character on camera and realising that I had it in me was so unreal. Soon, I started doing more commercials, and was asked to go to Mumbai for six months by my agency,” she recalls. Within a month, she was doing a TV series, and Madras Café, her Bollywood debut, came her way. She almost let go of it. “I said no, why will they take me. I didn’t go for the audition thrice. Then they called, Shoojit (Sircar, director) said I had high chances. I auditioned and got it. Then I sort of accepted this profession,” adds Khanna. She, then, went on to work with the likes of Vijay Deverakonda, Ravi Teja and Vijay Sethupati. The actor had a totally different perception of the south film industry, which turned out to be far from reality once she worked there. “I wouldn’t even go to movies in general, I was a studious, geek girl. Coming from the north, I always had this image of the south industry as only known for dancing and singing. But when I actually started working in Telugu cinema, I realised I was so wrong, they have great stories. Of course, there is the commercial aspect of it. Malayalam and Tamil films have amazing content that keeps getting remade in Bollywood. I hold them in high respect, real regards now,” confesses Khanna.

Her recent selfie with Shahid Kapoor created a lot of buzz. We ask her how did the Raj and DK web series happen for her. She reveals, “Mukesh Chhabra (casting director) was the first one to call me after Madras Café and say, ‘You have great talent, I will make sure you get something big’. He called me a couple of times, but those projects were not for me, he understood. Then he called me for this. I was a huge fan of The Family Man. I said I would love to do it, it just fell in my lap.”

I didn’t go for the (Madras Café) audition thrice. Then they called, Shoojit (Sircar, director) said I had high chances. I auditioned and got it. RAASHII KHANNA, Actor