He sets the eye balls rolling every time he takes to screen. Tall, dark, handsome couldn’t have found a more apt role model than Hyderabad’s very own young actor Rana Daggubatti.
Acting, producing and more, Rana comes from a family with a history of lineage to Tollywood, but he took it one step further by bagging roles in Bollywood films such as Dum Maaro Dum and Department. For the former, he was nominated for the Best Actor Debut. His Tollywood career, which started with Leader, won him an award for Filmfare Best Male Actor (South). Post-Leader success, there was no looking back for this lean, mean hunk.
Rana maybe only six films old, but he’s already grabbing gossip headlines with his alleged affairs and link-ups with Bollywood’s glam dolls. Goes without saying that this Hyderabadi hunk isn’t complaining about all the attention being diverted his way. That’s quite a leap from starting off as a behind-the-scenes visual effects producer.
Coming from a film family isn’t always easy, as standards have already been set and judgments already rolled out before you’ve set foot into the spicy world of films. Rana has not only lived up to critical aspersions but also risen above them to become one of Hyderabad’s biggest stars with a small but significant presence in Bollywood too.
This fitness freak, who loves his biryani and haleem as much as he does his sweets, says, “I am so scared of Ramzan because of its delicacies that I never want to be in the city during the festival. This lady-killer foodie is so tall that the average reporter would require a stool or stilettos to interview him. He’s not all looks and no skill. Currently working hard to learn street art in the form of graffiti and spray painting in LA for his challenging role in Aditya Bhattacharya’s adaptation of cult film Raakh, he also pledges to stop piracy and spreads the same through his blog posts.
Fans would be surprised to know that this young lad weighed 125 kg three years ago with a paunch and love handle. Unbelievable? Believe it. Kudos to the washboard abs, the broad shoulders, and to all of 6 ft 3 inches of him. A keen sportsperson, Rana was a cricketer and boxer in college, but a broken nose left him searching for less gruesome pursuits. He’s been personally trained by Laxman, Mr India silver medallist, who travels everywhere with him. “To put it bluntly, my laziness is taken care of,” says Rana.
Whether to rejoice or regret is your choice, but Rana has cleared the air over his alleged link-up with Bengali bombshell Bipasha Basu. “Bipasha is like family” was his quote when quizzed on the controversial matter. He attributes his cop and gangster roles to his dark looks, confirming that he has a sense of humour too.
Currently busy filming Bahubali and Rudhramadevi (both in Telugu) and Valai (Tamil), Rana will have a special appearance in Deepika Padukone and Ranbir Kapoor-starrer, Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani.
He hasn’t set the box office on fire, but within a short span of three years Rana Daggubatti has gone from overweight visual effects producer to a chiselled actor. Fans and critics, connoisseurs and collectors, bloggers and reporters, family and foes, all would agree that love him or hate him, you just can’t ignore him.