Almost 25 years after doing a cameo in Nagarjuna’s Chandralekha (1998), Sanjay Dutt is making a return to Telugu cinema, this time in a full-fledged role. The actor is all set to play the antagonist in Puri Jagannadh’s Double iSmart, which will see Ram Pothineni in the lead.

A source from the film’s unit tells us, “Sanjay has shot for an exciting action sequence in Mumbai already and is excited about returning to Telugu cinema after so long.”

The makers released Sanjay’s first-look from the film on his birthday (July 29), in which the actor is seen sporting tattoos and a cool hairstyle. “Given that Ram’s look is quirky, Puri had a specific vision for how he wanted his antagonist to look and behave. And Sanjay is game for it,” the source adds.

Sanjay Dutt took to social media and wrote, “It gives me immense pride to be working with the director of the masses, Puri Jagannadh, and the young and energetic Ustaad Ram Pothineni (sic).”

The Urvashi Rautela-Rishabh Pant saga was quite the rage on social media last month. It all started when the actor said a certain “RP” had to be kept waiting for hours to meet her, and what followed were cryptic posts and online spats between the two. However, Rautela has now broken her silence on the matter. She tells us: “RP is my co-star, Ram Pothineni (Telugu actor). I wasn’t even aware that Rishabh Pant is known as RP.”

The Pagalpanti (2019) actor adds that half of the things being said and written are assumption-based: “The ones believing such news, I’d say, need to analyze. If you have not seen anything, how can you believe it?”

Rautela, 28, not only became the centre of memes, a section of social media users even called her a stalker, claiming she followed Pant, 25, to Australia before the T20 World Cup. Recalling all the mockery, she says, “We see comparisons being made that cricketers have way more respect or that they earn more than actors. That bothers me a lot. I understand they play for the country, but actors also represent the country. I don’t like these silly comparisons.”

Memes aside, clips of cricket fans shouting hers and Pant’s names at the stadium also did the rounds online. This, she says, is worrisome. “Anybody who is representing the country needs to be respected. People can’t treat them like a commodity. It’s an invasion of privacy and I don’t appreciate it,” she asserts.