Bollywood meets Seoul: Don Lee confirmed to join Prabhas in Spirit

The much-awaited action thriller Spirit, which is being made by Sandeep Reddy Vanga and featuring pan-Indian icon Prabhas, is now officially taking its global game to a whole new level. In a blockbuster cross-cultural casting coup, Korean action superstar Don Lee (popularly also called Ma Dong-seok) has been signed to essay the role of the villain opposite Prabhas in his 25th movie.

Train to Busan star Don Lee set to play villain in Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s Spirit

The news, first covered by Korean media and community sites such as Muko, represents Sandeep’s aspiration to move beyond local boundaries and make a transnational film spectacle. Don Lee, familiar worldwide for his dynamite performances in Train to Busan and—and his brief appearance in the MCU’s Eternals—will apparently be against Prabhas’ character in the dark-coloured detective crime thriller.

The T-Series backed film, announced in 2021 for the first time, has Prabhas play a cop. An interesting ‘sound-story’ teaser, released on the star’s recent birthday, provided a brief peek into the story, hinting that Prabhas’ IPS officer could start the story from behind bars. The teaser included a crisp confrontation with Prakash Raj, where it ended with Prabhas’ fiery line, “Mr. Superintendent, bachpan se meri ek buri aadat hai.”

After the huge success of Animal, Vanga is clearly looking to up the ante. The entry of Don Lee adds international star power as well as sheer physical credibility, suitable to the film’s reported subject of global drug smuggling. Rumors speak of bringing in Korean stunt choreographers too, highlighting their desire to provide world-class action.

Up for release in several languages such as Japanese Chinese and Korean, Spirit is being marketed as a pan-Asian film effort. Don Lee’s participation not only raises the high level of anticipation surrounding this action thriller even higher but also represents an emerging trend towards pan-Asian film co-productions, making Spirit a project poised to revolutionise Indian global action films. The trade community now looks forward to official word regarding the specific role of the actor and the commencement of shooting.

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