“Sometimes so much pressure can be exciting” – Rana

April 29, 2011 - 5:45 AM IST

Rana Daggubati is going through some sleepless nights, well literally so. Though it is a known fact that his next Hindi film would be Department after he made a good impression with Dum Maaro Dum last week, what is not known to many is that today he also has a Telugu solo release of his hitting the screens. The film in question is Nenu Naa Rakshasi which stars South superstar Ileana opposite him.

“Sometimes so much pressure can be exciting” – Rana

"Due to pressure of both these films coming so close to each other, there has been immense pressure on Rana to keep the momentum on", says a friend of Rana, "He couldn't afford to slip on any of these films. In South, he comes from a strong filmy lineage (he is the grandson of prominent filmmaker D. Ramanaidu and nephew of actors Venkatesh and Nagarjuna) due to which Nenu Naa Rakshasi is extremely critical for him. On the other hand Dum Maaro Dum was a launch vehicle for him in Bollywood. With names like Abhishek Bachchan and Bipasha Basu involved, he had to do all to make a strong presence felt."

Well, seems like he did withstand pressure after all, what with the bigwigs in the industry noticing his Dum Maaro Dum act and sending him the feelers. Despite being a new entrant to showbiz, Rana is fast learning the tricks of the trade as well. He simultaneously promoted his Hindi as well as Telugu venture which resulted in not just extensive travel to the length and the breadth of the country but also countless sleepless nights due to excessive travel requirements.

"For Dum Maaro Dum we are travelling very extensively in North. Ever since the beginning of the month I have been trying to have a lot of fun even though I am required to be at two places at any given point in time", Rana brings on a tired smile on his face, "It wasn't planned though to have Nenu Naa Rakshasi and Dum Maaro Dum release so close to each other. A little bit of space between two of your films always helps. But then its okay, sometimes so much pressure can be exciting."

For Dum Maaro Dum, Rana was accompanying Abhishek Bachchan to various cities including Pune, Delhi and Chandigarh amongst others. So much so that Abhishek even quipped that Rana was now almost a North Indian.

Smiles Rana, "Abhishek does that in good jest. As such during the last fortnight especially there has been no time to even catch a breather. I have now been travelling down South for Nenu Naa Rakshasi. It is a big film for me. These are nervous times but that's fine, I am certainly not minding that."

Welcome to the film industry Rana, there would be many more nervous and exciting times like these in the coming years.