Samantha Out, Rashmika In for New Horror-Comedy?

Rashmika Mandanna has been cast as the lead actress in the upcoming Bollywood horror- omedy, “Vampires of Vijay Nagar.” She replaces main cast Samantha Ruth Prabhu, who was initially rumored to take on the role. The film is part of producer Dinesh Vijan’s successful horror-comedy universe and will star Ayushmann Khurrana alongside Rashmika.

Directed by Aditya Satpodar, filming is expected to begin by the end of this year. Though details about the project are limited, it’s known that Samantha was in talks for the lead role but decided not to participate. This allowed Rashmika, who is gaining popularity in the Hindi film industry, to step into the spotlight.

Following her success in “Animal,” she has other major projects like “Chhaava” and Salman Khan’s “Sikandar.” In the Telugu film industry, Rashmika is involved in the pan-India film Pushpa 2 and another film called Girlfriend. Meanwhile, Samantha has not signed any new projects since coming out of a gap.