Rana Daggubati claims 'Baahubali' sequel will make the first part look piddly. We could say the same for his current beefed up look
Sonil Dedhia (MID-DAY; December 16, 2016)

Turning 32 on Wednesday was rather special for Rana Daggubati as makers of his two upcoming films, 'Baahubali 2' and The Ghazi Attack, unveiled his first look back to back. "I couldn't have asked for a better gift. I am in an exciting stage of my career, playing interesting characters and doing films in different genres," he says.

Rana, however, is aware that he isn't as big a name in Hindi cinema as he is down South. He insists he realised early in his career that sailing simultaneously in two boats was not safe. "Most South actors don't live in Mumbai. I tried doing that, but realised it was difficult to juggle both worlds. I never tried hard to make it big in Bollywood. I understood that, back home, I had my own audience and many big producers offering me huge projects. I couldn't have put everything at stake and shifted to Mumbai, bag and baggage. After Baahubali's release last year, I understood it's good be on home turf and do the right film."

While the SS Rajamouli magnum opus went on to make an estimated Rs 600 crore at the box office worldwide, Rana says that they are looking to smash all records with the second instalment. "When we started our journey, Baahubali was a regional film and no one anticipated such a tremendous response. We set out to make the biggest film that this country had ever seen. We achieved that with part one and are going to do it in a bigger way with the second part. One thing I can assure you, Baahubali 2 will make 'Baahubali' look very small," he says.