Why Raj & D.K. told Raashi Khanna to get Hindi lessons

Though Delhi-born and bred, Khanna is an established name in south Indian cinema. Her upcoming OTT shows will see her starring opposite the likes of Ajay Devgn and Shahid Kapoor

Bollywood actress Raashi Khanna during a press conference for her upcoming web series ‘Rudra – The Edge of Darkness’, in Mumbai, on Feb. 14, 2022; (PTI Photo)

na was surprised when filmmakers Raj and D.K. (Raj Nidimoru and Krishna D.K.) told her that she spoke Hindi with whiff of a south Indian accent during a casting call for their upcoming series. Though she had spent almost eight years doing Telugu and Tamil films, the Delhi-born and bred girl in her was still amused, but took the feedback in the right spirit. She took lessons in Hindi so that she could work alongside Shahid Kapoor for the Amazon Prime series. “Two years ago, I literally started speaking like a Telugu girl,” says Khanna who dubs on her own and also has Telugu songs to her credit. “I genuinely started feeling like I was from south India, that’s how deeply immersed I was.”

Before the Raj & D.K. show, though, Khanna will make her OTT debut with Disney+ Hotstar series Rudra, an adaptation of the British show Luther which sees Ajay Devgn, also making his debut in the format, in the titular role. “I could see OTT going hand in hand with films.,” says Khanna. “There is no way it is taking a step back. It is as great an opportunity as a film. Your character is written in depth.”

Already an established name in the South, Khanna had to audition for the part. “I don’t have any vanity. It will only destroy you,” she says. “I see myself as a normal girl who is doing her job and she better do it right. I was happy to because I will know how good or bad an actor I am and only then I will rise as an actor.” Getting the part after nailing the audition strengthened her confidence in her abilities. The crime drama sees Khanna play Aaliyah, who she says, “is obsessed with Rudra”. “She is narcissistic, a sociopath, you will really love to hate her and have mixed feelings [for her] towards the end.”

With two Hindi OTT shows arriving in 2022, Khanna begins shooting for Yodha, opposite Sidharth Malhotra. It’s her second Hindi feature, one which comes nearly a decade after her first—2013’s Madras Café. Acclaimed as it was, its release didn’t result in what Khanna had dreamt. “You think now that I have a film out may be something great will happen [in Bollywood]. It didn’t,” she says. “But I was sure that I’d sign the right thing or I am going to sit at home. I was very stubborn about it and I am really glad that I have done that.”

Opportunities came her way from Telugu and Tamil industries and Khanna found herself content. It’s why she says she will never “want to completely leave South at all. It is why I am here today. I am grateful for all the love I have gotten there.” With the rise of pan-India films, more and more actors see merit in shuttling between languages. Says Khanna, “I’d go where good work takes me. South films have increased their reach so much. There’s no real difference anymore. We all are Indian actors doing Indian films.”