Animal: Parineeti Chopra out, Rashmika Mandanna in Ranbir Kapoor starrer

It was recently reported that Parineeti Chopra will no longer be a part of Sandeep Reddy Vanga's Animal, which also stars Ranbir Kapoor, Anil Kapoor, and Bobby Deol. Since then, there has been speculation about the actor who has replaced Parineeti in this film. As per reports in Pinkvilla, Rashmika Mandanna, the "national crush", has been cast as the female lead in Animal.

Rashmika, according to Bhushan Kumar and Sandeep Reddy Vanga, "meets the bill to a tee." Rather than duplicating RK's combination with another actor, they wanted a new cast. According to the entertainment portal, RK and Rashmika are expected to light up the screen with their chemistry in Animal. A source close to the development said that in the film, the two have a unique relationship, adding that Rashmika will play Ranbir's wife.

After Ranbir finishes the yet-to-be-titled Luv Ranjan rom-com, the shoot for this much-anticipated edge-of-your-seat drama is likely to begin this summer. Bhushan Kumar's production company, T Series, is behind the film. 

In the future, Ranbir Kapoor will be seen on the big screen regularly. He will be seen in Shamshera in July, followed by the grandiose Brahmastra in September. The actor returns to the rom-com genre in 2023 with Luv Ranjan's yet-to-be-titled Holi flick, followed by Animal in the second half of the year.

Rashmika Mandanna, on the other hand, makes her Bollywood debut alongside Sidharth Malhotra in Mission Majnu and follows it up with the Amitabh Bachchan-starrer Goodbye. She's also working on a project with Dharma Productions and has Allu Arjun's magnum opus Pushpa 2 under her belt. 

Animal is believed to be set against the backdrop of India's gun mafia, with Ranbir Kapoor's father, Anil Kapoor, leading a family of gangsters. For the time being, the character profile of Bobby Deol has been kept under wraps.