Rashmika Mandanna joins Animal along with Ranbir Kapoor; filming begins this summer

It was announced recently that Parineeti Chopra would no longer be a part of the Sandeep Reddy Vanga-directed Animal, which also stars Ranbir Kapoor, Anil Kapoor, and Bobby Deol. Ever since there has been speculation about the actress who has joined the cast in place of Parineeti. Rashmika Mandanna, the national crush, has been approved to play the female lead in Animal, Pinkvilla has exclusively learned.

Rashmika, according to Bhushan Kumar and Sandeep Reddy Vanga, fits the bill perfectly. They preferred a new cast rather than repeating RK's pairing with another actress. The duo believes that RK and Rashmika's chemistry in Animal will light up the screen. "The two have an interesting dynamic in the film," said a source close to the project, adding that Rashmika will play Ranbir's wife in the film.

The shoot for this much-anticipated edge-of-your-seat drama is expected to begin this summer after Ranbir finishes the yet-untitled Luv Ranjan rom-com. Bhushan Kumar's production company, T Series, is in charge of the film's production. Ranbir Kapoor will appear on the big screen at regular intervals in the coming years. He debuts with Shamshera in July, followed by the optimistic Brahmastra in September. The actor begins 2023 by coming back to the rom-com genre with Luv Ranjan's yet-untitled film on Holi, followed by Animal in the second quarter of the year.

Rashmika makes her Bollywood appearance with Mission Majnu, co-starring Sidharth Malhotra, and followed this up with the Amitabh Bachchan-starrer Goodbye. She is also in discussions with Dharma for a film and is working on the magnum opus Pushpa 2 with Allu Arjun. The Animal movie is said to be set against the backdrop of India's gun mafia, with Ranbir Kapoor having ties to a family of gangsters led by his father, Anil Kapoor. For the time being, the personality representation of Bobby Deol has been kept a secret.