Ram Pothineni To Turn Director With His Next Film

Telugu actor Ram Pothineni will make his directorial debut with his 23rd film. The actor announced the news on X with a poster from the upcoming film. Pothineni, who has his back to the camera in the poster, will play Veera, a lone wolf in this directorial debut. The untitled psychological action thriller will be out in theatres in December 2026.

"An exciting journey begins with all your love & blessings. Introducing "𝙑𝙀𝙀𝙍𝘼" in #RAPO23 -the story of a Lone Wolf. Genre: Psychological Action Thriller. Written & Directed by #𝙍𝘼𝙋𝙊 Produced by Krishna Pothineni A @RAPO_Cinematics Production. December 2026 Release," he wrote.

Pothineni was last seen in Andhra King Taluka. Directed by Mahesh Babu P and produced by Mythri Movie Makers, the Telugu film co-starred Bhagyashri Borse. The film's cast included Rao Ramesh, Murali Sharma, Satya, Rahul Ramakrishna, and VTV Ganesh, with Sreekar Prasad handling editing, Siddhartha Nuni handling cinematography, and Vivek & Mervin handling music. Pothineni was last seen in Skanda (2023) and Double iSmart (2024).

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter India, Mahesh Babu P spoke about his equation with Pothineni. "I placed this film in a very large-scale environment, so I needed a large star to tell this story. I thought Ram sir would be perfect, and the role might be distinct from the films he's been doing. He wanted to do something different, and it happened with our film," he said, adding that the duo was always in sync.

"It was great working with Ram sir because he believed in this idea from day one. There's nothing about the script that he doesn't know. We make the best team, and we're always in sync. Upendra sir himself is such a cult filmmaker, so I was quite nervous directing him. But he was so encouraging on set," he said.