Dressed in a Bermuda and tee, a rosary dangling around his neck it’s either that RaNa Daggubati hasn’t got off the hangover of his role as a Goan musician in “Dum Maro Dum” or it could just be that the junkie look is more of a defiant style statement. The chilled-out actor in the midst of an exclusive photoshoot for Hyderabad Times shares his thoughts on what was and what is yet to be. Excerpts.After the huge adulation you received for your performance in “Leader”, your name figuring in the drug scandal in Tollywood must have hit you hard?
I’ve tasted all of it — first the political controversy in “Leader”, then it was about women I’ve been linked with and then this. A friend of mine was commenting ‘everything that has to happen to an actor has happened to you; now just tell me when is your next release?’ I’ve had no back-to-back releases so many do have this perception that I have been idle, in fact I have been working almost every day in 2010, staying put in Mumbai for “Dum Maro Dum” and hearing scripts here for my next Tollywood venture before finally zeroing in on Puri Jagannath’s “Nenu Na Rakshasi”.
What’s your action plan for 2011?
I’ve got two films releasing “Dum Maro Dum” and “Nenu Na Rakshasi”, I’ve finalized a Tamil/Telugu bilingual film with Selvaraghavan but we are yet to find the leading lady. It’s a love story and a lot of it rests on the lead actress - looks are important and so is acting. These days my life is revolving around that one girl. We’ve auditioned more than 110 newcomers with no success!
What has been the reaction at home to your name cropping up in the drug scandal?
People at home were cool. And by nature I’m not the kind to react. There was this journalist who was pressurizing me to send a rejoinder to clear myself for a story that was written about me. I said since you have made up the first three stories yourself you might as well make up the rejoinder too, you don’t need me to do it.
You are active on social networking sites, and some of your posts have created trouble for you…
I am more careful now on what I post and the frequency too has lessened. Some of my posts are being quoted out of context but I have also put social networking sites to good use especially for choosing the lead actress for “Nenu Na Rakshasi”. Instead of sitting in a boardroom and popping the question to six people we put the question to my followers who are over a lakh and we got responses from 56,000 of them and that’s how Ileana came into the picture! I also follow certain people and that gives me direct access to selective news if I want to know the latest on Steve Jobs or Conon O Brien I just follow them for updates much before they appear in print.
Heard that you are doing a film with Gautham Menon and Samantha is your costar?
There are a couple of directors I’d like to work with and Gautham Menon is certainly one of them. I think this buzz about Samantha might be because she is doing “Eega” which is a Suresh Production.
It’s believed that Siddharth bagged the lead role in “Anaganaga Oka Dheerudu” because you said no to it?
“Anaganaga Oka Dheerudu” was one of the many stories that Prakash discussed with me. Prakash and I go a long, long way, since our “A Belly Full of Dreams” days. I’ve always felt I have an ownership in whatever Prakash does, we are neighbors we share the same wall. We’ll surely do a film together.
You and Laxmi Manchu too share a great rapport…
Yeah, I think she was fabulous in the film and of course Shruti too. Laxmi was almost my guardian in Los Angles, during my SFX days I would travel a lot to LA and Laxmi would guide me on where to eat, where to get what, etc. She was working on some TV shows there and she was sweet and patient enough to indulge me. In fact, I share a rapport with many people in the industry, Ram Charan and I have been classmates since class V and by the way I don’t call him Cherry.
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