Raashi Khanna

Debut (2013–2014)

Khanna made her debut with the 2013 Indian political spy thriller film Madras Cafe, where she played the role of Ruby Singh, the wife of an Indian intelligence officer Vikram Singh, portrayed by John Abraham, who was also the producer.^[5] She had to undergo acting workshops before taking up the role.^[6] The film—particularly the story and direction—impressed most Indian critics.^[7] Reviewing the film, Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV stated that Khanna "makes an impact in a brief but significant appearance".^[8]

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 Shourya in the lead roles,^[9] which she signed in late October 2013 after considering many other south films, adding that the scope of performing made her sign the film.^[10] 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.^[9] She called her character Prabhavati "grey, stubborn, arrogant 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.^[11]

Khanna confirmed in early April 2014 that she made a cameo appearance in the Telugu film Manam,^[12] which had its theatrical release before Oohalu Gusagusalade,^{[lower-alpha 1]} Oohalu Gusagusalade opened to positive reviews from critics and Khanna received praise for her work. Sangeetha Devi Dundoo of The Hindu called Khanna an "actor with potential",^[15] while Hemanth Kumar of The Times of India stated that she gave a "commendable" performance which helped the movie to some extent.^[16] The film was a commercial success at the box office.^[17]

Her next Telugu film was Joru, directed by Kumar Nagendra opposite Sundeep Kishan, Priya Banerjee and Sushma Raj, 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.^[18] Khanna received moderate reviews from critics. 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".^[19] A reviewer from IndiaGlitz opined that Khanna "looks fine in a glam role but looks less than glamorous compared to her previous outing".^[20] Joru was a commercial failure at the box office.^[21]

Success and further projects (2015–present)

Khanna's next was Jil, directed by debutante Radha Krishna Kumar opposite Gopichand,^[22] which she signed in early July 2014 after the makers approached her considering her performance in Oohalu Gusagusalade.^[23] The film received mixed reviews from the critics.^[24] In early May 2015, she was signed for the film Shivam, replacing Neha Sharma's younger sister Aisha Sharma.^[25][26] The film received negative reviews from the critics and performed poorly at the box office.^[27]

In late December 2014, she was signed opposite Ravi Teja for the film Bengal Tiger, directed by Sampath Nandi.^[28] The film opened to mixed reviews but was commercially successful at the box office. It grossed ₹40.5 crore (US$5.6 million) globally and became the 8th highest grossing Telugu film of the year.^[29]

Her next release Supreme, in which she starred with Sai Dharam Tej, was also a commercial success.^[30] Her next release was Hyper, opposite Ram Pothineni opened to positive to mixed reviews and was an Average grosser at the box office.^[31]

In 2017 Her first release was Jai Lava Kusa, opposite N. T. Rama Rao Jr. was opened to positive reviews and became commercial success at box office, she made her Malayalam debut, Villain, starring Mohanlal and Vishal, directed by B. Unnikrishnan. Though Manju Warrier is paired opposite Mohanlal, Raashi played a pivotal role essaying a tough cop in the movie, Later the movie opened to positive reviews with critics praising her portrayal of a tough, confident cop and had a good run at boxoffice.^[32] Her last release was Oxygen, marking her second collaboration with Gopichand, opening to mixed reviews. She essayed the role of a village belle, which was well received. Later the movie went on to be an average grosser at the box office.^[33]

In 2018 Khanna's first release was Touch Chesi Chudu, opposite Ravi Teja, in which she essayed a role of dance instructor. 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 Toli Prema, opposite Varun Tej, which opened to critical acclaim from critics and audience alike, with critics greatly praising her performance as "Varsha", a girl who is self decisive and mature in behaviour, also the sparkling chemistry between lead pair.^[34][35] Her second release was Srinivasa Kalyanam, opposite Nithin, directed by national award winner satish Vegesna was opened to positive reviews and the chemistry between lead pair was appreciated by critics with primarily praising the performance of raashi as sri a mature women and carried the essence throughout the film. As of August 2018, she completed filming two Tamil films Shaitan Ka Bachcha and Imaikkaa Nodigal, marking her debut in Tamil cinema.^[36] She is also filming her third Tamil film Adanga Maru, opposite Jayam Ravi.^[31] Additionally, she has committed to star an untitled next opposite Vishal and another opposite Vijay Devarakonda.