Ashika was born on 5 August 1996 to a Kannada speaking couple Ranganath and Sudha Ranganath in Tumakuru district. She has an elder sister Anusha Ranganath, who is also an actress in Kannada movies. She studied in Bishop Sargant School, Tumakuru. Later, she moved to Bengaluru for pre-university and joined Jyoti Nivas College, where she auditioned for a Clean and Clear Fresh Face Bangalore contest, emerging as the runner-up of Miss Fresh Face 2014. She then completed her degree in commerce from MES College of Arts, Commerce and Science. [4] In addition to acting, she is also trained in various dance forms including freestyle, Belly and western.[5][6]
Career
Ashika's career in acting started after Crazy Boy director Mahesh Babu picked her during a Clean and Clear Fresh Face Bangalore contest. She was nominated for the Best Debutant Actress in a Leading Role Award by SIIMA.[7] She then appeared in supporting roles in movies like Mass Leader alongside Shivrajkumar, Mugulu Naga with Ganesh and Raju Kannada Medium which were commercially successful movies, and her character was also appreciated. Her next lead role came alongside Sharan in Raambo 2 which was a commercially successful movie and brought her into limelight for her electrifying dance moves in the song "Chutu Chutu" which became a sensational hit and became the first Kannada song to cross 100 million views on YouTube.[8] She then starred opposite to Ajay Rao in Thayige Thakka Maga and appeared in a mass number "Pataki Poriyo" in Kotigobba 3 with Kiccha sudeep.[9][10] Her next movie was Madhagaja with Sriimurali which brought her first SIIMA Best Actress in leading role award for her portrayal of village girl.
She made a special cameo appearance for the Titular song of the movie James which was the last movie of the Late Puneeth Rajkumar.[11] Her next project was with Simple suni under Pushkar Films titled Avatara Purusha Part 1 which was a ambitious project which opened to mixed to positive reviews and became an average grosser at the box office.[12] She then collaborated with Pawan Wadeyar of Googly fame alongside Ishaan for Raymo which was also an average grosser at box office with mixed reviews.[13]
Ashika made her Tamil Debut with Atharva titled Pattathu Arasan where she was seen portraying the role of a Kabaddi Player which opened to mixed reviews.[14] In 2023, she made her Telugu cinema debut with Nandamuri Kalyanram in Amigos which also opened to mixed reviews but her Dance moves and her chemistry with the hero was praised.[15] In the same year she signed another Telugu movie opposite Nagarjuna titled Naa Saami Ranga which was released on 14 January 2024 alongside various other movies and became a commercially successful movie with a unanimous praise for her portrayal of old and young looks.[16] Then she had two releases within a span of two weeks - Avatara Purusha Part 2 and O2. She had a limited role in the former while the latter had her leading the movie and a distinct character from her previous roles. She received appreciation for her role in O2.[17][18]
