I don’t read everything they write about me in the press, but I hear that they’ve begun to call me a crossover artiste, a rare male actor from the south Indian cinema who went to Hindi cinema. If that means they liked what I did in ‘Dum Maaro Dum’, I take it as a compliment.
If, on the other hand, it means that southern actors are not adept at crossing boundaries of language, I’m not sure I agree with that. We can make too fine a point about language being a definitive attribute of an actor.
To me, language has never been a barrier. I grew up learning Telugu, Hindi and Tamil. I watch movies in all three languages and have always dreamt of making films in each of those. When DMD came my way, I took it without thinking that I was crossing any boundary. It was a good film and I wanted to do it.
To me, films are about telling a story. I want to do films in different languages because I want to tell stories in different genres. That may not be possible by sticking to one particular industry.
Several southern male actors before me—Venkatesh, Nagarjuna, Chiranjeevi and Rajinikanth to name a few—have worked in one or two Hindi films. The only reason why they didn’t do what is called a ‘crossover’ is that they were already well established in their respective genres and film industries.
I believe that if any of these wonderful actors had made a serious effort, they would surely have made it big in Hindi as well. By the time ‘Andha Kanoon’ happened, Rajinikanth was already Rajinikanth. What could be bigger?
On the other hand, actresses like Sridevi and Jayaprada and others like Aishwarya Rai and Deepika Padukone made it big in Bollywood only because they really wanted to. I don’t think looks make a difference. The audience accepts the looks after a while. Venkatesh, Chiranjeevi, Nagarjuna and Rajinikanth were well appreciated in Hindi films.
Directors from the south have done the crossover too. RGV went over years ago, and Puri Jagannath has made a mark now. But when you look at all of them, and then at Sridevi and Jaya Prada, the common thing that stands out is they all had the interest, desire and incentive to do something outside their niche. That is what I want to do.
I am currently working on two movies—‘Naa Ishtam’ in Telugu and ‘Department’ in Hindi. And I have no difficulty. And then of course, I hope to work in Tamil films too. That will complete the triangle of my identity.
Rana Daggubati is a Telugu actor .