Overview
- Rapo Cinematics announced Riteish Deshmukh’s addition to RAPO23 on Monday and released a behind-the-scenes clip showing him arriving on set and greeting Ram Pothineni.
- The makers say Riteish will play a pivotal, menacing antagonist, marking his first appearance in Telugu cinema.
- Ram Pothineni is directing the film as his directorial debut and also stars as the scarred lead character Veera.
- The production is mounting the project at scale with cinematographer Tirru, composer Sam C S and stunt teams led by Peter Hein, Vikram Mor and Kevin Master, and it previously shot a large night action sequence across a one-kilometre stretch.
- Casting a well-known Hindi actor in a prominent Telugu villain role follows a recent trend of cross-industry casting and could raise the film’s pan-Indian visibility as RAPO23 continues filming and final release plans remain unannounced.