She studied
Bharatanatyam under
Guru Narmada, Guru Padmini Rao and Guru Sundari Santhanam. She practiced the
Karanas for several years under Guru Sundari Santhanam, a senior disciple of Guru Padma Subramanyam. Rukmini holds a
BFA degree from the
Boston Conservatory in
Ballet and
Modern dance. She has studied acting at the
New York Film Academy,
Los Angeles while also learning under director
Prakash Belawadi during her stay in India. She has studied subjects on Fitness Training at
UCLA and Anatomy and Physiology at The Boston University. Rukmini's process of creation is both traditional and contemporary. She was a recipient of the Jiri Kylian grant for choreography and a resident choreographer at Korzo theater, Netherlands in 2018. Her productions, aniruth, Prabhavati, Abhimata, Talattu and The Dark Lord have toured b India and the world extensively. Her more recent work, Turiya, MALA, The Muse and Unrequited were created within the contemporary idiom and have been appreciated for their creative approach to the bharatanatyam vocabulary. She made her debut in
Gandhi Krishna's 2009 romantic film
Ananda Tandavam as Ratna alongside
Siddharth Venugopal and
Tamannaah, but the film was a commercial and critical failure. Rukmini then signed up to appear in
Naan, once again alongside Siddharth Venugopal, but the film ran into production trouble and she opted against appearing in the film when it began again in 2010. Moreover, another project,
Oru Naal Podhuma directed by
Pratap Pothan and featuring
Madhavan in the lead role, was also cancelled soon after announcement. In 2012, Rukmini was approached for
Rajinikanths sister's role in
Kochadaiyaan. The role was earlier to be enacted by
Sneha, who opted out citing date issues. In 2016, her delayed Hindi suspense thriller film
Final Cut of Director (also partially made in Tamil as
Bommalattam) by
Bharathiraja released. In the film, she plays Trishna alongside an ensemble cast of
Arjun,
Nana Patekar and
Kajal Aggarwal. The film features her as a mysterious debutant actress who is hidden from the media, with the film eventually revealing that her character was actually a male, made to dress up by the director. The film opened to positive reviews, with critics terming her performance as "definitely a surprise package". ==Personal life==