For a month now, Rana Daggubati has shared anticipation about uncle Venkatesh’s film Drushyam on Twitter. Now, with the film being received really well by the audiences, Rana is on cloud nine.
The actor, however, insists that it is not just a celebration of his uncle’s success.
“This movie marks a new beginning for Tollywood. It’s not the usual run-of-the-mill movie. It has no songs or fights and is very thought-driven. Tamil audiences and even Hindi audiences have, for a long time, been exposed to such movies and now Telugu audiences are opening up to it,” he says. The drama and thriller, which is the remake of a Malayalam blockbuster, has made '5.23 crore in the opening weekend.
‘Living with grandpa’
Despite his appreciation going beyond the family factor, it is a known and celebrated fact that this particular family in T-town is a close-knit unit. “We don’t know any other way of being,” he laughs. “The family you are given is god’s design, while we make friends on our own,” he says.
The bonding goes across three generations. “I live in the same house as my grandfather. It is a rarity. Three generations living in the same house. I strongly believe the bonding comes from sharing that kind of space. Moreover, in a business like the film industry, families become important as support structures and I am glad we have each other,” he goes on.
Joke in the industry
Now with two epic projects in the making, the actor sure needs all the support he can get. Rana is shooting for Baahubali and Rudramma Devi and interestingly he isn’t the usual Tollywood hero in either of them. In one he is a villain and the other film requires him in a supporting role. Also, in both the movies, Rana works with Anushka Shetty.
“There is a joke in the industry now that when it comes to a historical or a period film, Anushka and I are the first ones to get the call,” he laughs. Anushka plays the central character in Rudramma Devi and Rana plays the supporting role of Chalukya Veerabhadra.
“Anushka pays a great deal of attention to detail and is very disciplined. Gunasekhar had once even mentioned how lucky he was to have someone like Anushka to carry off a role of a queen and even handle weapons like the way she does,” he says.
In Baahubali, Rana plays a villain and he was more than happy to take on the role. “To play a negative role at least once in their career is every actor’s dream. And for me personally as well, when when I read the Ramayana and Mahabharata, I felt more for Ravana and Duryodhana.
So when Rajamouli had this in store for me, it was like a dream come true. The role has so much intensity. There is revenge. There is valour. I finally have a role I always wanted.”
