Actor Rana Daggubati says he falls in a category of neutral actors, and has always believed in getting involved in content with no regional barriers.
“I interestingly fall under a category of neutral actors and filmmakers who have been constantly involved in content with no regional barriers,” Rana told IANS.
“‘Baahubali’ was really the film that broke most barriers of what regional cinema can do nationally. I hope that more films like these are made, and can make the impact that ‘Baahubali’ was able to,” added the actor, who is pushing content of all type with his Kwan South, a joint venture with Kwan Entertainment.
The actor, who has worked in the southern film industry as well as in Bollywood, feels it is important to find content that is nationally applicable.
“I was able to find that very early into my career because I started working in the films at a very young age. In the process of filmmaking, language is only one of the aspects, content has always been neutral,” he said.
Rana is known for his portrayal of an evil king pitted against his cousin brother in the “Baahubali” franchise, and as a naval officer in “Ghazi”. He has also lent his voice to the character of supervillain Thanos for the Telugu version of Hollywood film “Avengers: Infinity War”.
Rana says “historically content has mostly travelled in the form of remakes, which have been popularly appreciated”.
“Hindi cinema has continued to make Telugu remakes and vice versa, very rarely did the actors or the films cross-over to make it big.”
What are the challenges that come with it?
“There were fewer people believing in the possibility, but with ‘Ghazi’ as a genre film and ‘Baahubali: The Beginning’ and ‘Baahubali 2: The Conclusion’ on a much larger scale, are regional Telugu films that worked pan-India. The only challenge you have, is in the process of making the film; you need to know different languages and be very patient.
“Today, there are a lot more people who are willing to explore this opportunity.”
On the film front, he is working on “Haathi Mere Saathi” and “Hiranya Kashyap”.
