'I never repeat my roles'

Dressed in a crisp white shirt and dhoti, actor Rana Daggubati lets his outfit speak for him. He sports a smiliar look in his latest Telugu project, ‘Nene Raju Nene Mantri’, which will release on August 11.

The actor portrays the character of Jogendra, whose simple life gets complicated after circumstances force him to enter the realm of crime, politics and corruption.

The story takes one through the emotions and transformation of the character. Rana, who was in the city for the promotion of the film, took time off to chat with Nina C George about the making of ‘Nene Raju Nene Mantri’.

An interesting scene from ‘Nene Raju Nene Mantri’?
There is a scene in the movie where Jogendra (the character I play) transforms from being a simple man to a not-so-simple guy. He slips into the dark alley of life and takes on an arrogant avatar. I also wear a lot of jewellery to add to the strength of the character. Jewellery looks beautiful on a woman but on a man, it is brings out his arrogance.

What is the essence of the story?
It’s a story between a husband and wife and how their equation changes over a period of time. It is the tale of a simple man called Jogendra and his wife Radha (played by Kajal Aggarwal). He is a moneylender who does business in a fair way. His ambitions and aspirations are small. For someone like him to take to the world of crime and politics is what forms the heart of the story.

How is your equation with Kajal and Catherine?
These two women (Kajal and Catherine) play very powerful roles in Jogendra’s life. While Kajal is most righteous, Catherine is the diligent one. Having grown up in a different environment, Catherine has a different understanding and take on life itself. Kajal, I would say, is the opposite.

Do you enjoy working on many projects at the same time?
Two things that I look at before signing a project are opportunities to explore a new world and a chance to introduce new characters. I did this in both ‘Baahubali 2: The Conclusion’ and ‘The Ghazi Attack’. But after these two films, I wanted to play a full character film which is what I’ve done in ‘Nene Raju...’ I never repeat my roles and don’t work on similar scripts.

Your mantra to staying fit....
I don’t train as much and I think that is the biggest misconception that people have about me. I always workout to resemble the character that I portray in the film. Even in ‘Nene Raju...’ I start with a lean look but transform to a heftier one towards the end. The difference clearly indicates that we shot this film over a period of time.

Would you like to work in the Kannada film industry?
I would love to. The most recent offer that I got from the Kannada film industry was a movie on the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi. We are still working on it.

Any actors that you admire in Kannada films?
Puneeth and I have known each other for many years now. He is a good human being and a great guy to hang around with.

What do you do when you are not acting?
I watch movies and read a lot. But nowadays, my reading revolves around the films that I am working on. I always try to adapt and bring in a different kind of writing style into Telugu cinema.