Rana Daggubati Slays!

Rana Daggubati Chats With Akash Nihalani About His New Beginnings

- Akash Nihalani

Rana Daggubati is a gentle giant who strides the world of both the South and Hindi cinema with equal ease. Usually, South stars wait to get themselves established before taking the plunge in Hindi films but Rana was just a film old when he did Dum Maaro Dum in 2011. The move spoke volumes about his supreme confidence and also hinted at his penchant for taking risks. This desire to do something different made him accept the role of the antagonist Bhallaladeva in the Baahubali franchise. He devoted almost three years to the project but the risk paid off as he became established as a pan-Indian star. He broke a million hearts when he married his long-time sweetheart Miheeka Bajaj, in August last year. The threat of the coronavirus pandemic was very much in the air back then but the macho hero thinks this brave move further strengthened their ties. He has taken risk again by launching his own channel called SouthBay on YouTube. The channel promises to cater to the youth by targeting trending topics and trending celebs, both from North and South. Rana talks to Filmfare about his marriage, his upcoming films and his passion project in a candid interview. Excerpts...

YOU WERE THE FIRST STAR TO HAVE A LOCKDOWN WEDDING. WHAT WERE THE CHANGES THAT YOU HAD TO MAKE TO YOUR WEDDING PLANS GIVEN THE SITUATION?

In fact, I felt it was the best time to get married. Obviously, there were a lot of people who I couldn’t invite but the whole thing felt extremely personal and nice. I wouldn’t have wanted it in any other way.

HOW DID YOUR PARENTS REACT WHEN YOU TOLD THEM YOU WANTED TO GET MARRIED DURING THE PANDEMIC?