Ram Pothineni joins Rajinikanth’s Dharman: Kamal Haasan’s banner unveils ‘Tollywood to Kollywood’ glimpse on Deepavali

Telugu actor Ram Pothineni is part of Dharman, the Rajinikanth film that Kamal Haasan is producing under his Raaj Kamal Films International (RKFI) banner. RKFI confirmed his casting on Sunday, 8 November, Deepavali day, with a 43-second glimpse it posted on its YouTube channel at 4 pm IST.

The banner gave the video a Telugu title, “Andariki RAPO Swagatham”, built on RAPO, a name Ram also goes by. By 11:19 am IST on Monday, 9 November, it had 1,409,672 views.

Drawn in a graphic-novel style, the glimpse opens on an aircraft wing above the clouds, with a turbulence warning and a countdown on screen. After a “Kamal Haasan presents” card and a drawing of Rajinikanth in dark glasses holding a scalpel, a revolver spins across the frame into the hand of a bearded man in a red shirt. Cards reading “Tollywood to Kollywood” and “Energetic Star arrives” follow, and the clip closes on Ram in dark glasses beside the Dharman title. RKFI has not said what role he plays.

Ram’s second film in Tamil

Dharman is a Tamil film. Ram’s only earlier Tamil work was The Warriorr, which N. Lingusamy shot in Telugu and Tamil at the same time and released on 14 July 2022. His most recent release is Andhra King Taluka, which Mythri Movie Makers brought out on 27 November 2025. He is also writing and directing RAPO23, in which he plays the lead.

Director Ashwath Marimuthu has worked in Telugu before. He remade his first film, the Tamil Oh My Kadavule (2020), in Telugu as Ori Devuda with Vishwak Sen, and that version reached theatres on 21 October 2022. His Dragon (2025) reached Telugu screens as Return of the Dragon.

Rajinikanth as ‘the deadly doctor’

The project was first announced under the working title Thalaivar 173. RKFI bills Rajinikanth’s character as “the deadly doctor”, the phrase it used in the video marking the start of the second filming schedule on 13 August. That schedule wrapped on 4 September. On Wednesday, 4 November, the banner welcomed Sreeleela to the cast.

The glimpse credits Anirudh Ravichander for the music, the stunt duo Anbariv for action, Niketh Bommi for cinematography and Pradeep E. Ragav for editing. Kamal Haasan and R. Mahendran are the producers. RKFI has not announced a release date for the film.