Rana Daggubati feels the audience only cares about the film and not where the person making the film is coming from.Rana is ready to release his new trilingual biggie Kaadan. The film is scheduled to arrive in theatres on March 26, in Hindi, Telugu and Tamil languages.
Although primarily focussed on Telugu films so far, Rana has also made significant impact in Hindi and Tamil film industries from early on in his career. Grandson of Dadasaheb Phalke Award-recipient late producer D. Ramanaidu, he firmly believes the art of cinema ultimately unites across languages.
It is always the audience. They always want new stuff. When you buy a ticket and get into the theatre, you don’t really care where the filmmaker is coming from. You just care about the film. I think the internet and the press has also broken language barriers in a big way. The audience won’t care whether Avengers is in Hindi, in Telugu films or in any other language, he says.
The actor adds: I know a little bit for history because of my grandfather. There was a time when all films, be it Hindi, Telugu or Tamil, were shot out of Chennai. The industries there never had a difference except for talent changing. There was not much difference. Art really unites. Whether you are a director or an actor, you don’t really have a language for this craft. It’s ultimately the art of filmmaking.
Rana’s role as the antagonist Bhallal Dev in the Baahubali franchise was lauded all over. While many remember him as the beefed-up ruthless king from the Baahubali films, Rana will soon be seen playing Bandev in kaadan (Haathi Mere Saathi). Bandev is a man who lives in the jungle and has dedicated his life to protecting the eco-system.
Talking about the Prabu Solomon directorial, the actor says he underwent drastic transformation physically and psychologically to play the character, who is cut off from regular human interaction.
When this film was offered to me, I had just done Baahubali. Prabu was very clear that is not how a jungle man looks (refers to his Bhallal Dev physique). From shedding weight to growing beard, I kept doing that for three to four months. Then for the next 10 to 15 days we spend time on sets, defining how Bandev was and how he behaved, says Rana.
