Rana Daggubati: A part of Baahubali's Bhallaladeva and Rana Naidu is there in who I am today | Exclusive

Rana Daggubati is one of those actors who is very choosy about his projects. So when he opted to foray into the long format with Rana Naidu, many couldn't contain their excitement. In the Netflix show, he works with veteran actor Venkatesh Daggubati, who is also his uncle, for the first time. The titular role Rana plays has gray shades, a few glimpses of which fans got to see in the trailer. So during an exclusive interaction with OTTplay, the actor revealed how a part of certain characters stays with him even after the shoot.

Rana stated, "I think we have a logical brain first, and I've played many characters that I don't accept what they do with. I have killed brothers and killed many people. But see, there'll definitely be pieces of that character that, in a very direct, relatable way, you won't have because they're the functionality of that plot. But there'll be a certain mental space that you will subconsciously keep building through the course of that show or that film."

He continued, "A part of that will remain with you forever, right? It's almost like playing a certain role when you're a kid, and a part of that becomes who you are. That's what makes characters—at least for guys like me who do very few things that are really extreme—there's some part of all of those guys that is actually who I am today. So there will be some seed of a Bhallaladeva or Raina Naidu or all of these other characters, instilled in me bits and pieces, that will be influential in some ways."

Talking about the impact of Rana Naidu, the actor went on to say, "I was a bit dark and cloudy when this happened, for sure. You realise it much later; the way you spoke to people when you were shooting is not the way I speak to them now. The people close to you will tell you that; they realise that."

When asked if playing a negative character or one with gray shades comes naturally to him, Rana said, "Before Baahubali, I hadn't played anything negative. It was only after that that I started really enjoying it. But yes, it's the biggest and craziest villain that you've got. There's a certain attitude with playing dark or gray, right? With white, you've got to subscribe to a certain rhythm. You got to be nice to people who are there to talk to them gently or whatever; there's a certain rhythm to what a hero is and what a hero should be or what he can do and what he can't do."

He concluded by saying, "But I feel that with the work that I've done, it doesn't matter what show or film I do. It's that story that you start listening to: I could be a bad guy or a good guy. I'm saying if you see me with Surveen in the frame, I could be the best husband or I could be her killer. I'm saying it could be anything. So I think that's what I like about where I am right now."

ALSO READ: Rana Daggubati on finally working with uncle Venkatesh in Rana Naidu: We were clear about what we weren't looking for | Exclusive

Rana Naidu will premiere on Netflix on March 10, 2023.