Ashish Vidyarthi & Rao Ramesh Movies Together List — 3 Films

The shape of the work

Ashish Vidyarthi acted in every film; Rao Ramesh acted in all of them. Strictly Telugu cinema — they never crossed industries together.

Partnership facts

• Rao Ramesh and Ashish Vidyarthi first shared screen space in 'Where Is Vidyabalan?' (2015) — a film that was originally written with a different actor in mind for Ashish's role. Rao Ramesh, who was already cast, suggested Ashish to the director after a late-night phone call.
• In 'Duvvada Jagannadham' (2017), their scenes together are built on a push-pull rhythm: Ashish plays the loud, impulsive villain while Rao Ramesh underplays every reaction. Ashish later said in an interview that Rao Ramesh's stillness forced him to dial down his own energy, making their confrontations tighter.
• Their third film together, 'Ismart Shankar' (2019), became a hit and directly led to the casting of both actors in the 2021 blockbuster 'Akhanda' — where they played father and son. That film's success spawned a wave of mass-action films pairing veteran character actors with younger heroes.
• On the sets of 'Ismart Shankar', Ashish and Rao Ramesh shared a hotel room for three weeks because the production ran over budget. They spent nights rehearsing lines and arguing about Telugu cinema's shift from family dramas to mass entertainers.
• Rao Ramesh once said about Ashish: 'He is the only co-actor who can make me laugh in the middle of a serious scene. In Duvvada Jagannadham, I broke character twice because of his spontaneous dialogue delivery.'