Vijay recalls when he once made Rashmika CRY on the sets

Vijay Deverakonda and Rashmika Mandanna recently spoke about their relationship during an interview with Prakhar Gupta. The actors discussed their first meeting, changing views on love and their journey together.Their first collaboration was 'Geetha Govindam', which brought them together on a film set for the first time. Rashmika Mandanna was new to the industry and initially addressed Vijay Deverakonda as “sir”. However, their first interaction did not leave Rashmika Mandanna with the best impression. She recalled an incident involving music during their first day of shooting."I remember when I first met him on set, I used to call him sir because I was new into the industry and he had done 3-4 films by that time.

On Day 1, I was playing this random music on the set, and he goes like, ‘Turn that music off.’"Vijay Deverakonda admitted that his blunt approach had affected his co-star. He explained that he had not considered how his words might be interpreted by someone he had just met."I am a blunt person, and I assume everyone to understand the intention. I feel like, we should be able to talk freely, openly but sometimes when you don’t know each other fully, it was stupid of me to assume, she’ll get it.

I just casually said, ‘What is this shty music that you’re playing?’ I shouted because we had to share a locked caravan in between but because we were not big stars, so half caravan was for her, and half was for me and my team.

I screamed, ‘What is this shty music that you are playing?’"

The incident left Rashmika Mandanna in tears

Rashmika Mandanna said the situation felt particularly difficult because she was still adjusting to a new professional environment. She recalled thinking that her co-star already disliked her."That is the first thing your co-actor is telling you, right?" Vijay Deverakonda responded, "What should I say?"Rashmika Mandanna later looked back at the episode differently. She said, "You’re absolutely right. Now that I think about it, I wonder what that was all about."Vijay Deverakonda revealed that he eventually learned how strongly Rashmika Mandanna had reacted to the incident. "She had tears in her eyes because she thought that he doesn’t like me."Rashmika Mandanna explained, "Because it is a new place, new industry." Vijay Deverakonda recalled, "She thought it is going to be a torture like this. She told me this much later." "Yes, for a long time, I hadn’t said it," Rashmika Mandanna admitted.

How their friendship developed

Their equation gradually changed as they continued working together. Vijay Deverakonda also encouraged Rashmika Mandanna to stop addressing him formally."I was extremely sensitive and everything would tear me up.

Going to the set and there were these situations when we started working in the film, he would help me with the dialogues, and everytime I used to call him sir, he used to be like, ‘Stop calling me that. I have a name, call me that’ then of course, it became Vijay, and then we became friends."Working on two consecutive films gave them more time together. Their professional association eventually developed into a close friendship."Because we did two back-to-back films with each other, we sort of spent so much time with each other, we were pretty much talking to each other the whole day, you are shooting and prepping for the same film. Hence, it became like… he was my best friend back then, and then much later on, I was like, ‘Okay, I am feeling something, and this is not…’"

Vijay Deverakonda opens up about love

Vijay Deverakonda said he did not believe that love could be understood instantly.

He also rejected the idea that he knew immediately that Rashmika Mandanna was “the one”."No. Can you ever know instantly? I don’t believe in love at first sight. I need to go through a journey for love. You can know instantly that she is beautiful. But can you know instantly that she is the one? No. I knew nothing about her. I did think that she was a very beautiful girl but when I met her, I guess it was my third or fourth film. So, it’s more about the excitement of being on set, nervous of being on day 1 with a new team, and the aspiration of doing something successful.

First day on any set is nerve-racking. You’re not comfortable enough to think about love and such. It has been eight years since we first met."Rashmika Mandanna corrected the timeline, saying, "No, it’s been 9 years since we met but 8 years since our film released." Vijay Deverakonda joked, "So, that film is my marker for how long I have known her."

Why Vijay Deverakonda changed his view of love

The actor also reflected on how his perspective had changed since his late twenties.

He admitted that he once viewed love with considerable skepticism. "First of all, at that age, I was somebody who didn’t believe in love, I was around 28-29. If you look at my interviews from then, you’ll see that I talk very disrespectfully about love, from a distance, and that comes from a place of young energy. I thought love is a marketing term.

We’ve all fallen in love multiple times in life. So, what does love mean? If I can fall in love with somebody and then I can fall in love with somebody else, then this is bullshit.

So, I used to talk like this a lot."He said maturity eventually changed his understanding of relationships. "You feel your mother’s love, don’t you? There is love where people think about you more than themselves. It took growing up and maturity to understand that. Don’t disrespect the love in your life. Don’t say love is a marketing term. Respect it, appreciate it, nurture it. So, for that journey, it took me many years.

When I got an understanding about these things, then I started looking at love and relationships differently.

"Vijay Deverakonda also revealed that he felt ready for marriage at 36. Rashmika Mandanna teased him, saying, "Baby, you were late." He explained, "When I was 36, I finally felt, ‘I feel like getting married.’ I felt that I was ready and mature to understand this, to love it, I felt ready." The couple has previously worked together in 'Geetha Govindam' and 'Dear Comrade'. They are now set to share the screen again in 'Ranabaali', a period action drama directed by Rahul Sankrityan.