Actor Rana Daggubati says he didn’t mind working in two back-to-back Telugu period films Baahubali and Rudhramadevi because he finds them ‘heroic’ and ‘powerful’.
“I didn’t mind doing two back-to-back period films because they may be offbeat, yet it’s so heroic and powerful,” he says. “I wouldn’t be surprised if I’m approached for more period films in future,” he adds.
In S.S Rajamouli-directed Baahubali , which will also be released in Tamil, Rana plays an antagonist. While he has been a fan of Rajamouli’s films and has always dreamt of working with the auteur, he also agreed to work in Baahubali because he likes the genre.
“I’m a big fan of folklore and history. The film’s story is fictional, but the way it has been recreated proves it’s Rajamouli’s biggest project and I couldn’t miss a chance to be part of it,” he said. Asked about working with the visionary filmmaker, Rana said: “He’s an easy and simple director to work with. He’s very clear what about what his actors are supposed to deliver.”
Baahubali is about a war between two brothers — Baahubali (played by Prabhas) and Bhallala Deva (Rana) — for a kingdom. It also features Anushka Shetty and Tamannah Bhatia in important roles.
Talking about how they recreated an era that’s almost 1,000 years old, Rana said: “Since it’s a fictional tale, we created a bible with all the information about the time zone in which the film is set because we don’t have any reference. Everything had to be created from scratch.”
One of the challenges for Rana was to master the language.
“We shot the film in two languages. While delivering Telugu lines with a period touch wasn’t a challenge, the ancient Tamil lines certainly were as I’m not quite well versed with the language,” he added.
In Bollywood, Rana has recently completed shooting for Neeraj Pandey’s Baby , and has signed another film called Nia .
