Professional boxer Ritika Singh is all set to make her acting debut in Rajkumar Hirani’s Saala Khadoos opposite R. Madhavan. She was shortlisted for the film after the team watched about 700 boxing matches. A source from the team says, “Rajkumar Hirani was very clear about casting a national level boxer and not an actress for the role. He feels that the fights require stamina and intensity and only a boxer can make that look real.”
So Raju’s team, along with R Madhavan and Sudha Kongara (director), set out on a hunt for a boxer. They auditioned over 100 boxers and attended over 700 boxing matches all over India, before finalising Ritika for the part. The search went on for a couple of months. “The entire process of watching innumerable matches and meeting and auditioning boxers was highly consuming for the team, but in the end, it paid off. Ritika Singh is a national level kick boxer who has a black belt in karate and is also trained in Mixed Martial Arts.”
