In an industry that has long confused accent with ability, two actresses from different generations are describing the same wound — and very different recoveries.
Madhoo’s show of support
Actor Madhoo has publicly backed Rashmika Mandanna after renewed criticism of her South Indian accent. In an Instagram video, Madhoo said she watched Mandanna’s recent appearance on Koffee with Karan and was struck by her composure. “She laughs about it, she accepts it, she owns it,” Madhoo said in the video, as reported by The Times of India. She added that she “loved the way” Mandanna identified herself as a South Indian with a South Indian accent.
The comment follows Javed Akhtar’s defence of Mandanna on X over the weekend.
Three decades of unlearning
Madhoo’s support was also a confession. When she entered Hindi films, she said, she feared being judged for being a South Indian and worked constantly to improve her Hindi pronunciation, at one point hiring an Urdu teacher. A compliment that her Hindi was “better than that of a Hindi speaker” once felt like a professional victory.
“Today, I am so proud to say that I am a South Indian,” Madhoo said, adding that it took her 30 to 35 years to reach that comfort. If a mistake or “thickness” of accent appears now, she said, she no longer minds.
- The old fear: any trace of a South Indian accent being spotted.
- The old response: Urdu lessons and constant work on Hindi diction.
- The new position: accent is identity, not an error.
Why it matters
Mandanna’s own formulation on Koffee with Karan was calm and precise. People noted her South Indian accent, she said, but she is from the South of India, so an accent is natural — “unreasonable to think otherwise.” For younger actors, that confidence is becoming available earlier; Madhoo’s testimony shows how expensive it used to be.
The support of senior industry figures matters because it gives generational cover to a change that has been building across Hindi cinema’s multilingual casting.
What Mandanna has in production
Mandanna was last seen in the period action drama Ranabaali with Vijay Deverakonda. She is shooting the action thriller Mysaa and is also part of Allu Arjun and Atlee’s science-fiction film Raaka, which features Deepika Padukone as the female lead.
Source: The Times of India
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