Rana Daggubati talks about his contribution to Bahubali

With the release of Bahubali 2: the conclusion, the country was blessed with two mega stars, Prabhas and Rana Daggubati. A lot has been spoken about the star of the film, Prabhas but the ones who’ve watched the film will surely applaud Rana too. He was the perfect villain against Prabhas.

In a recent interview, Rana opens up about the struggles he’s faced, Bahubali’s success and the amount of hard work put in.

How do you feel now that Bahubali 2 has finally hit screens?
I am really excited that it’s finally done and out here. Obviously, we were looking forward to it for months now.

Baahubali is the biggest franchise in Indian cinema. Were you nervous before the sequel released?

That sort of nervousness will always be there. When we shot for Bahubali, everyone was experimenting with something that they had never done in their lives before. They had their lives on the line – whether it was the production or the actors. Especially because it was such a hugely expensive film, and nobody knew if it would be accepted by the audiences. The present day nervousness is to live up to the expectations of the brand that we have created and the immense love that we have received from the audiences everywhere.

You gave 5 years of your life to Bahubali. Did the length of time invested in just one film never trouble you?

That was never the thought. It’s not that I was involved only with Bahubali for 5 years. I did a couple of films after we finished the first part and before the shoot of the sequel was to begin. Frankly, you need to invest that kind of time for a film of this magnitude, else such kind of cinema can never be made. The credit goes to SS Rajamouli and Shobu Yarlagadda for making the franchise what it is today. We are mere instruments who are depicting the story on-screen.

Talking of the box-office numbers, Bahubali 1 earned about Rs 650 Crore worldwide, and Baahubali 2 has already amassed Rs 506 Crore worldwide in just 3 days. At what figure do you think the frenzy will stop?

(Laughs) All of us are based out of Hyderabad. These numbers aren’t discussed like they are in Mumbai. We want it to earn as much as it can, but ultimately we rely on how good the movie is and how true we were while making it. Our only intention was to make the biggest war film of the country, and we did that with Bahubali: The Beginning. Now with Bahubali: The Conclusion we wanted to make an even bigger war film than the first one, and I think we have achieved that successfully. So wherever it goes in terms of numbers, we will be more than happy.

Bahubali 2: The conclusion has made history by breaking all box-office records in less than a week!