Rana Daggubati: If I’ve transitioned from a good-looking boy to a capable actor, it is because of…

Rana Daggubati, who founded the VFX wing of Ramanaidu Studios, was involved in various levels of film production before he was launched as an actor with Sekhar Kammula’s Leader. With every project, he has bettered himself as a performer. While Baahubali gave him the stardom he richly deserved, it was Teja’s Nene Raju Nene Mantri that brought out his best as an actor.

Following his footsteps, his brother Abhiram Daggubati will be launched by director Teja with Ahimsa. The film’s pre-release event was held at Chirala yesterday. At the event, Rana said tt has been 25 years since he’s been at Chirala. “Back then, I couldn’t have imagined that I would be speaking at a stage like this. I’m really happy today. You all know me as Rana now, but my original name is Daggubati Ramanaidu. Apprehensive if I would be able to live up to the name, people called me Rana in short.”

“If I’ve come far in this industry, it is only because of the platform my grandfather created for us. Teja only makes films with people he likes and so many people advised me against working with him before Nene Raju Nene Mantri, saying he was egoistic, would beat up his actors and so on. We share a terrific rapport, it’s hard to witness such sync in any actor-director combo,” he added.

The Baahubali star said he hopes to do as many films as possible with Teja. “If I’ve transitioned from a good-looking boy to a capable actor, it is because of director Teja. I’ll always be indebted to him. When I got to know that my brother Abhiram fell in his hands, I felt he couldn’t have found a better filmmaker to groom himself as an actor. I wish him all the very best for his debut and I hope you love him as much as me and my uncle Venkatesh.”

He wished all the debutants of Ahimsa good luck. “It’s so great to hear RP Patnaik’s music all over again (in Ahimsa) and I’m overwhelmed with nostalgia. I want to see you explore different soundscapes and entertain us again. As a family, we’ll be indebted to the producer Kiran for launching my brother. The film is releasing on June 2 and I wish the team the very best. I’ll be returning to Chirala for another event soon.”