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From ‘scared’ of him to ‘healed’: How Rashmika Mandanna-Vijay Deverakonda’s 9-year journey led to Udaipur wedding
From calling him “scary” to crediting a partner who “healed” her, Rashmika Mandanna and Vijay Deverakonda’s love story was written in interviews long before their Udaipur wedding made it official.
Rashmika Mandanna and Vijay Deverakonda's love story. (Photo: Instagram)
On Thursday, against the backdrop of the Aravalli hills in Udaipur, the “Arjun Reddy” and the “National Crush” are finally trading their “just friends” tag for “forever.” But long before wedding whispers turned into reality, Rashmika Mandanna and Vijay Deverakonda had already told their story, through fragments. A comment here. A deflection there. A confession that didn’t name names.
Today, as their journey reaches its biggest milestone, we trace the arc of their relationship through words spoken across years for each other.
It began with fear.
When Rashmika said she was scared of Vijay Deverakonda
When they first met on the sets of Geetha Govindam in 2017, Vijay was riding the wave of his intense, brooding Arjun Reddy persona. Rashmika admitted she found Vijay intimidating. In an interview with The News Minute, she openly said she was “scared” of him at first. “I was scared when I first shot with him as I’m scared of new people. But then, Vijay is a very chill fellow and I found it easy to work with him,” she said in the interview.
Rashmika’s first on-screen kiss with Vijay
Around the same time, she also spoke about how their first-ever on-screen kiss in Geetha Govindam was a moment of pure “shock” and anxiety
“For me, a kiss and all is a very personal thing. It is a very intimate thing. Two hundred people were watching, and I was like, how? But I think it is the same for the co-actor also. Vijay was feeling the same thing as I was. So it was like, how do we do it? So that was my first kissing scene, and it was very shocking for me,” Rashmika had said.
‘Just friends’ phase
By the time Dear Comrade (2019) was released, their off-screen ease grew. What started as professional chemistry slowly turned into friendship, something both repeatedly stated in interviews whenever speculation surfaced. They chose the safest label available: good friends but the quotes they dropped were breadcrumbs for the fans.
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Rashmika began describing Vijay as her “safe haven,” famously stating, “He is the person who has seen me at my worst and helped me through it.”
Vijay called Rashmika ‘darling’
Vijay, usually guarded about his private life, softened his stance on the Koffee With Karan couch in 2022. When Karan Johar grilled him, Vijay said: “Rashmika is a darling and I am really fond of her… a bond gets created when you share so much through films.”
When Rashmika called Vijay on live tv
The “secret” blew up during a 2023 promotional event for Animal. When Rashmika called Vijay on live TV, he answered with a casual, intimate, “What’s up, re?” She blushed instantly, reminded him he was on loudspeaker, and held up the phone with a smile she could barely hide.
After the call ended, Ranbir Kapoor pointed at her and remarked, “So much natural blush came.”
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Rashmika said her ‘partner healed her’
In 2025, during the promotion of her film The Girlfriend, Rashmika recalled being in a similar relationship where she had “no choice”, and expressed gratitude towards her current partner for helping her heal.
In a conversation with anchor Shoma, she said, “Choose who you want to be with. You shouldn’t be in a situation where you have no choice but to be with a partner. I have been there. Today, when I choose to be with someone, I am happy, that person is happy, and everyone around is happy.”
She continued, “Luckily, I have a partner who has healed me from a pain he did not cause. So, for me, as Bhooma, he has helped me heal. Just as this film is significant for me, he holds the same importance… I must give him that applause and thank him for it.”
Rashmika also addressed online trolling, sharing that her partner reassures her whenever she mentions being targeted. She said, “When you are being trolled, you know it. At home, I tell my partner, ‘I’m getting trolled so much.’ He says, ‘There’s nothing like that. Why are you overthinking?’ He claims he doesn’t notice it at all.”
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She didn’t name Vijay but she didn’t need to.
Vijay callled Rashmika ‘amazing’, she called him a ‘blessing’
By late 2025, the masks were fully off. At a success meet for The Girlfriend, Vijay stood on stage and looked at Rashmika, and said, “One day the world will see you for who you are… you are an amazing woman.”
Rashmika said, “I hope everyone has a Vijay Deverakonda in their life. It’s a blessing.”
Vijay also kissed Rahmika’s hand in front of the audience.
Wedding announcement
The couple who “soft-launched” their love through borrowed beanies and matching Maldives sunsets made it official through their wedding announcement. They credited the fans for the name they are now carrying into marriage, “With so much love, you gave us a name… today, we name our coming together in your honour. ‘The Wedding of VIROSH’.”
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Their interviews over the years formed a narrative that neither explicitly authored, but both quietly contributed to. Today, as they step into marriage, the arc feels complete.
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