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Rana: Krishnam Vande is a milestone in my career
Rana Daggubati began his film career with Leader in Telugu and then went on to do Dum Maaro Dum in Hindi.
Now Rana is all charged up about Krishnam Vande Jagadgurum (KVJ), a film directed by Krish (Radhakrishna Jagarlamudi) where his co-star is Nayanthara.
In this interview, he talks about the film, among other things.
How did you come to sign KVJ?
Krish told me about an idea based on the land of Bellary which has been famous for Surabhi theatre acts. He said, I've got a tale set in a land like this.
I've got a hero who is a young theatre actor who is not fond of theatre. The boy has studied B.Tech and wants to step out but he's very good with his art form as he has grown up and lived with it all his life.
What made me do it was the idea which was so novel and fresh. It's to do with theatre which I'm fond of and interested in.
The day he told me the full story was Vijayadasami day and we finished shooting the film on Vijayadasami the next year.
Is it part period, part contemporary tale? Or you just play mythological characters?
It's a contemporary tale. I play mythological characters in the theatre plays. Surabhi hasn't been active for the last few years and a lot of them haven't been popular either. We took Patala Bhairavi, which is one of the popular films and made that a play and used it in the film.
The final play Krishnam Vande Jagadgurum is also the title of our film. It's loosely based on the Dashavataram -- it's the journey of man from beginning to the end.
'KVS the most commercial story I have ever done in terms of an action adventure'
Is it called Krishnam Vande Jagadgurum as it's taken from the Bhagavad Gita?
It is taken from the Gita. It is also a title Krish wrote for my uncle Venkatesh's film. I asked him, why don't you give that to me? They couldn't finish writing the script for my uncle's film properly. He wanted me to give a voice over for that film. So I took the entire title because it's a very unique and nice title for Krishna being the divine.
There's a very nice line from Osho: Where the Buddha ends, Krishna begins. Krishna is probably the truest form of today's avatar in man.
In the audio release your grandfather said he wanted you to make a commercial film. In what sense is it commercial?
Ultimately it's a revenge drama, an action-adventure tale told in the most fun action way. It's very grand in its scale. What it adds is a facade of newness because of something one hasn't seen before.
It's the most commercial story I have ever done in terms of an action adventure which is the most popular and liked genre for years. This is my most suited role because it has been officially designed for me and nobody else. This is a film which has been derived from an idea till the end whether it's to do with the characters I chose to play. In Dashavataram I chose to play Narasimha avatara.
'I trained extremely hard to achieve a size which almost blew me out of proportion'
How was it playing the Narasimha avatar since it's the one of the most aggressive and ferocious avatar...
Divinity and ferociousness is the combination. That's what it is.
I used to go on the stage in the costume. It was hot because of it. I used to be pumped and charged. The brief Krish gave me and I made for myself was that it should look larger than any man ever looked. Genetically I am built big and strong.
Raghubabu plays Hiranyakashipu. He's also a big guy. I trained extremely hard to achieve a size which almost blew me out of proportion and it was very hard to hold it. I did that. Getting on to the stage and listening to that song Mani (Sharma) Sir composed and putting all that together was magical. I was roaring and loud throughout that play.
Did you feel any kind of divine presence?
Without doubt, there was. Every single time I did those plays, there was something else you experience as an actor which I can't explain. For lack of better words, I would say it's like an individual which comes into you and moves away. You feel different the next couple of days because you shot that. We shot the climax for 20 nights. I was almost up a month every night and sleeping in the day.
While playing the theatre artiste, did you get a chance to explore any other mythological characters?
The first theatre piece we shot was from the Mahabharata – Abhimanyu and Ghatotkaccha which we actually shot in a Surabhi stage with the Surabhi actors.
There is the piece from Patala Bhairavi which is fun. There is love, romance and little bit of action.
Then there is Narasimha avatara, part of Dashavatara which will lead into the climax.
Throughout the film I play B Tech Babu, this random crazy kid who wants to get out of this and go to America. So it's a large graph in terms of growing as an actor. I always believe an actor is as good as the content as he gets or chooses. I think this is the content very few actors will have an opportunity to get and I don't think I will have something like this one more time.
'The only reference point to play mythological characters was NTR'
Were there any reference points while playing the mythological characters?
The only reference point was NTR. The film that I liked and watched several times was Dana Veera Surya Karna where he played four different characters. The others came fairly easy to me not because of training as an actor but due to liking and living through these stories all my life.
Were you satisfied playing these roles?
Yes, extremely. There was not a day that I was not excited doing them and felt that I was saddled with work. Each day I was playing someone else.
Did any of these characters linger on after shoot?
Yes, since I also dubbed after that. There are heavy monologues which are the real challenge. You can't allow the voice to crack while dubbing. You have to recreate that in a dubbing theatre all over again which is the real big challenge. This will stay with me forever as they are stories that I like, stories I have been told as a child and those that I read while growing up.
'Nayantara has done versatile characters in many languages'
How was it dubbing these tongue-twisting dialogues?
My language is fairly strong still it was extremely hard to do it. Trying to hold voice, breath for so long was a solid challenge and it took a while but it got done.
Nayantara plays the documentary filmmaker and you are acting with her for the first time...
The reason why we wanted someone who knew the craft is we needed someone who has done a great body of work and Nayan has done that versatile characters in many languages. You don't need a back story to establish her. The first shot of the film is on her and she tells a piece of the film.
For me, she was somebody comfortable. She has been there long enough, much longer than I did. So it's always nice to work with people like this who have been experienced. You get better and better working with character actors/actresses.
Was Krish a taskmaster in this journey?
Yes, Krish is definitely a taskmaster. It's also because we were discovering how to make this film. He told me many months back we have an outstanding story, we just have to make it correctly. He hasn't done an action adventure genre and nothing on this big scale. He hasn't worked with big technicians like Vijayan, Brinda in the past. He holds his script very strongly, he knows how his characters need to behave. So his briefs were pretty solid. Since we have been friends for years, we have a good understanding.
'I was nervous shooting with Venky for the first time'
Sameera Reddy does an item number. Do you shake a leg with her?
Yes. Actually Venky and I are together in the song. So it'll be an exciting piece with three of us in that song. I was more nervous shooting that song than the Narasimha avatara itself because I was shooting with Venky for the first time.
How was the whole experience of the film?
Even though it took a year, it didn't seem like one because everyday I was doing something I haven't done before. You were going there and discovering how to do it.
Does this film have a message to send across?
Finding god in yourself is an underlying statement. In the promo, there's a line: when a fish came to help man, he called him the saviour; when a wild boar came, he called him the avatar of Vishnu. So it's ultimately anyone who is the saviour of mankind is actually the God.
Would you rank this film as one of the milestones in your body of work?
Undoubtedly. I don't see people writing films like this, I don't see people having ideas of films like this.