Rana Daggubati sheds light on the universal language of cinema

Ahead of Rana Naidu’s release, Rana reflects on how his Baahubali bridged the north-south gap

In 2015, it was the bilingual, Baahubali: The Beginning, featuring Rana Daggubati, which made the Hindi film audience wake up to the potential of the south movie industry. The pan-India popularity of south films has only grown since, with the last two years witnessing a surge. Telugu actor Daggubati, who is gearing up to woo OTT audience with his Hindi-Telugu offering Rana Naidu, says viewers are hungry to explore new content, irrespective of the language. “The audiences want variety. It doesn’t matter where it comes from. Thanks to OTT platforms and social media, everything is much more connected,” says the actor, who teams up with star-uncle Venkatesh for the Netflix series.

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Daggubati, who juggles Hindi and south films, notes that movies like Roja (1992) transcended the regional divide earlier. “But then, each state was trying to create its own identity, which is why film industries were also formed like that. Television started bringing us together by showcasing the dubbed versions of Telugu and Tamil films.” He agrees that SS Rajamouli’s epic franchise was the turning point. “Baahubali connected [with the pan-India audience]. It paved the way for RRR, Pushpa: The Rise, and the KGF franchise.”

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