When Rana makes time to shoot for NoFilterNeha during his honeymoon
Time like this, I think anybody who is getting to work and putting something together as a show, I think, first, I like very much and I must be part of that and all of us are talking about no work and there is nothing going on. So, I thought here you go, Neha. Go for this, let’s do this. It’s one of those.
Rana talks about his love story and how he decided onto marrying Miheeka
I know her for a very long time because my sister and her went to school together. So, I’ve known her pretty much all my life and there’s only a handful of people who move from Hyderabad to Bombay. So, we got talking during lockdown and I said okay, this is right and that’s about it. So, when good things happen, I don’t question too much, I just go. Everyone’s got a timeline, it’s okay. That’s fine.
Rana talks about how he got married at a film studio and shot his wedding in VR!
Honestly, there’s no filming happening, anywhere. Obviously, because a time like Covid, like the way we are in right now, its got social distancing, its got least number of people, a studio is the only place where you have a place, right? So, I was like okay there you go. And everybody thought it was a great idea. It was five minutes from my house. Only two friends of mine who were at the wedding. So, its like 30 people, I think less than that. Two of my friends who also live with me. Ya, so everyone was tested and then it was like a huge lawn where only thirty people were, so it was fine. It was a lawn & a car park, together. I think we just made that one and then there you go, enough space for everybody. But, what I did was I shot my wedding in VR and sent it to my family who couldn’t come and all of that and I sent them VR headsets so they could watch it. This is for real. So, we shot it in Virtual Reality and sent a bunch of VR boxes and sweets and stuff for family and some friends. So, they got to see it live. So in VR it feels like you are actually at the wedding. Now my family is calling me and they want other VR stuff on it. They are like what else do we watch on this now?
What Rana has to say about the media of today’s times
No, its not really uncomfortable. Its like earlier we were in a life where news meant two or three sources, right? That’s what news meant. And, today it’s so skewed, I don’t know where anybody gets anyone’s news from. Its like hey, I read this on a meme, I’m like dude, that doesn’t mean anything. Because in our lives its very easy to make stories around anything, very easily. So, I said, let me just keep my narrative going. Right now because really no one’s really going to work or they are not as efficient as they normally are, right. Now you tend to listen to something and cut off somethings because you are watching something else and suddenly there is a new OTT that launches and then you’re just watching that one day. So, you don’t know where each one’s life is. They are all very different in terms of where thought is, what’s happening in Bombay, what’s happening in Hyderabad and then the funny thing is this is time we are all connected because no one is saying anything because everyone knows what’s going on in the US, we know what’s going on in Bombay. On a normal day, we will have no clue.
Rana talks about developing animated content with YRU and how it was his profession at one time…
No, so that was actually my previous job before I became an actor. So I used to run a visual effects studio and then I used to do animation in that point. So, interesting people that I met and I said lets start putting some kind of content together which is animated. Like if you see how the West is, I’m saying the animation culture that’s so mature. Somebody decided to make a man look yellow and then you have 300 episodes and it’s called The Simpsons. See, that culture is kind off fully not there in India. So, I said okay, let’s just start with this. It’s a show called ‘YRU’. It exists in shill and its irreverent. So, I have everyone from Karan to Ramu to Kangana to Rajakumari in the States to Lakshmi Manchu so it’s a bunch of different people and exploring art and exploring yourself independently. It’s a show like that that’ll come out.
Rana talks about cultural diversity and different content acorss the West and India…
So, I think sometimes when you see your culture because India is like so diverse as people, I mean what happens in Bombay in terms of thought and culture is so different from what happens here. So, I think in that sense some people like it, some people don’t. I’ll tell you a funny story, I was doing a sun glasses commercial and a brand manager in that sunglasses came and told me, I loved Baahubali. I said thank you. He kept talking to me about the film so I assumed he’s going to tell me something about that I did. He told me about a song where the fruits Prabahs washes and puts it on Tamannah’s lip. To him, that was the most creative shot that he had ever seen in his life. Now, I’m like, bro, okay, cool so. But, I’m saying I was like okay. See, sometimes it’s like what we think is cool some people think is cool. But, what I like about guys like Rajamouli and all of these people is what they think is cool, everybody thinks is cool. And, that’s really what India is. Its so big in terms of what people understand, what people get. Every couple of miles, couple of kilometers, you start seeing different things, that’ll start fascinating you, that’ll have in terms of thought. Look at Bombay, 100 miles away from Bombay is another town but will have no cultural reference to what happens in Bandra.
Rana talks about his obsessions for Star Wars & Amar Chitrakatha
See, I think first because my family was always in the movies. We moved from Chennai to Hyderabad at that point when the languages shifted and then the industries were kind of shifting. The Telegu industry was moving to Hyderabad in this area that we live right now called Jubilee Hills and at that point watching films is very important in my family, for everybody in the house. My grandfather used to watch movies, my father used to watch movies, my mom, my uncle, that’s a serious thing that goes on. So, whatever size of the house we lived, there’s a place to watch movies. The reason I like Star Wars so much is, I think its probably the first time also at that age that I just saw something that is just so magical and out of the world and that’s when cinema hits, you know, something much larger than what it is. So, I guess it starts from there. Amar Chitrakatha comes because of my mom. So, she used to have a lot of them when she was growing up. Everything that I know about India, Indian culture, all of that comes from ACK’s learning. There was nothing else in English that was simple and easy to understand.
What Rana has to say about his grandfather and what role he had to play in Rana’s life…
Ya, ya for sure. Everything I know is pretty much because of him. Like when you’re young you don’t, I mean I wasn’t the kid who studied really well or I wasn’t one of those academically bright kids, at all. So the thing you see growing up in a house where shootings going on pretty much everyday, the basement of the house, there used to be an editing room and stuff like that. I mean, that kind of fascinates, you know, you like that more than what’s happening in school for sure at that point. I think he was pretty much very motivational in whatever direction I took. He was happy that I was just working. So, its like a guy who didn’t study figured out how to make it so he was happy with that. And, all the principles that he kind of draws and what made him who he was, kind off, I mean it has an everlasting effect on, I think everybody in the family who continues to be in the movies and we all just continue to work for it. Its like you’re born on the finish line, you just have to protect legacy and make sure it does the right thing consistently. Our understanding was very different. If you’re from it, you just have to get up and go to work, without doubt, you got to learn everything, figure how to be alert so its another job, it’s a different kind of job you got.
Rana talks about his dad & uncle’s love for Sports and what’s the conversation like in the Daggubati househould…
My dad and uncle are like huge sports fans. I think the sports influence, a little bit that I have is just from my uncle and my father. They are pretty hardcore. My dad wakes up like at 4’0 clock in the morning to watch American football. He has a bunch of friends who come here at home at 4.30 in the morning and there’s a full like match and a thing going on. There are like different age group, Neha. So, they wake up at that point in time. But, I think its pretty awesome to watch like American Football. So, my dad studied there and stuff like in Michigan so he’s got that connect to American football. I’m sleeping for sure, I don’t want to wake up. But, then its crazy when you’re just waking up, there’s a whole party happening and I think there’s a group here that my dad’s got where everyone who went to the same college in America but in different years but live in Hyderabad, just come and hang out with my dad. So, that way there’s a lot of interest whether its movies whether its sports, books, everyone’s interested in everything. Farming, gardening, food, like everything. Interests are a lot.
What Rana feels about the Hindi Film Industry and its evolution…
Ya, a lot has changed. First the entire direction of what the OTT has done in terms of culturally what we make, what we do, content has fully changed. What you thought ten years ago was niche today is super mainstream. In terms of content, there has been such a progression in that sense. What you see in Bombay a lot now which you didn’t see earlier was the connectivity or the connection that the media had to the movies. Today, it’s a lot more in that sense. Whether it’s the culture of paparazzi, whether it’s the culture of media reports content or any of that, today you see, that’s a much larger network. It’s the same 300 films that are being made but the ideas you have 300 more people talking about that as avenues
When Rana feels that the story-telling avenues have changed completely
That's pretty awesome. I'm saying that the kind of avenues of storytelling has completely changed. You can be relevant, doing relevant things on multiple platforms, multiple formats. It doesn't matter anymore. You don't have to be only a movie star to figure out your place in the entertainment industry in that sense. Today, you can just do a lot more things. That's there for sure.
Game Round
Which set is the nosiest? - I have to say Bombay
Which one is the most punctual? - Like Telugu in one sense, but, and then you come to Bombay and work with Akshay Kumar and you have a whole different perspective on what Bombay does, right? Half my life in Bombay, I was with Akshay Kumar. Like Baby, Housefull so you're single to his timing, right? Which is pretty awesome. He took me at 5:45 for a radio show, beat that. I guess Telugu, in that sense.
The most laid back? - Also, Telugu. I'll tell you, in a sense because they don't work that late, right. See, you work very early, it’s like 7-6, they wrap at 6. So, after that you're just chilling. Hyderabad, things are very close by, that's the fun part. But, it’s a good function how they figure, like, the people with less make-up, start work first in the morning, then there's a breakfast break. It’s a little different ecosystem, that way. But then you chill a lot more here than in Bombay. Bombay is like, come on, you gotta work 24 hours a day, just got to keep moving.
The best food on which set? - I'd have to say Bombay, actually. They pamper you a lot They say, 'Can we get you this, can we get you that?' And you know you won't have any of that. Here it’s like here you go, eat this, your shot's at 3.
Has the best wrap parties? - Bombay, no doubt. Without doubt.
Always going over time? - Bombay, I mean, I don't even have to say it
Which one is the strictest? - Telugu, for sure. And, I also think because my dad is around somewhere, figuring out what's going on and you're just like top discipline, right? You have an uncle who's on time with everything so you got to like just, just be there, there's no option.
Rana talks about the pressure of being from a filmy background -Ya, ya, I mean pressure will be there. I'm saying its not pressure, really. It’s another job, it’s a different function. You got to think of it very differently.
Which one treats you like a king? - I think Bombay.
When Rana talks about the film 'Bahubali's' scale & his co-star Prabhas
See that's the fun thing about that film, right? I'm saying every time you, you obviously stepped into it knowing you're doing something really big and massive. But, you kind of just get inspired everyday when you go to set because you're seeing something that's so magnanimously big and then you're doing those epic scale drama kind of scenes and then it comes back with visual effects and then you see it even more bigger than what you've done, right! Ya, you continuously see that process happening. See, because they are inventing things. Nobody ever shot a war, nobody shot a film at that scale, right, so, things they, kind of happened, back and forth, but, you must give it to Prabhas. He's like a positive pillar that's just standing for everybody, that's him.
When Rana got antsy during the long shooting periods of Bahubali...
I think it’s not because the film was taking long, I guess, I'd be antsy in the gaps, so, its like here you go, your next shot will be… I mean, I was, like big, giant, like, who'd cast me, right? So, I remember, in the middle of part 1 is when I did 'Baby', Neeraj had called me, Neeraj Pandey. I said, okay, how many days do I take? So, I was like okay there is 30 days of work, let me call Rajamouli. Sir, this is what it is, can I go? He's like okay. Ya, I mean, that was the thing I was getting antsy about. I just had to be at work, everyday.
When Rana never liked Prabhas using his thrones/swords on set of Bahubali
There's some part of every character that becomes you or you become that right in some way and if you're doing the same thing for 5 years, you just become that guy in some form or the other. Ya, I mean, obviously, I never used to like Prabhas sitting on any of my throne or using my sword or any of those things. Ya, ya, it used to annoy me a little bit. I used to take it back, he used to just sit around to irritate me and stuff, but, no, there's some possessiveness that you start feeling towards your stuff. And, you're driving to a set that has a 110 foot statue of you, every day you go. It's pretty amazing. The whole, you're doing this for five years so you're whole mindset kind of changes, too.
Rana talks about choosing Housefull 4
So Fahad and the writer, both of them came to Hyderabad to tell me what Housefull was. I didn't watch the Housefulls before, like, nothing. So, there's no connection. I was like wow, this is so ridiculous, I think, it's just mad. Just to, actually be able to do this from all the other serious shit that I do anyways, so I said this just works. And, trust me, it is pretty much the most fun I've had on a film set. So, usually you have fun with Bahubali you can talk about big things that are being built or with Dum Maaro Dum you can say you shot in Goa for 3 months and all that said, inside a floor in Andheri, you had like the most fun. See, I think one is sometimes when something is thrown at you, it is the world which is mad but I still understood that world, I mean I saw films like 'Hot Shots- Vot Shots', now you are trying to take a take on what you are Bhallaldeva or Karl Drogo was somewhere halfway through. I was like okay I can do that role, first. I said, you just give me a character like that I can play it anyways, I said let me just put it in this setting and see how it works. But, I had a blast, I had a great time. So, I told somebody that I think either people will like it a lot or they'll throw stones at me, I said one of the two things gonna happen
Rana talks about his upcoming films 'Haathi Mere Saathi' & 'Virata Parvam's release'
Sometimes you just have to wait and watch in terms of where things have to be and I think we are in that time, just hold when you can and find other things to do.
What Rana has to say about OTT & Theatres and if OTT will replace theaters.
Tomorrow you will see many-many spectacle-based films kind of coming to the theatres because it is going to get harder and harder for us to get people back out into the movies. And, its also subject to each state. Its different what's the situation is in Bombay, its different what it is in Chennai, so I think everyone will react to how that is. And, see, even globally, there is really no answer. I think its still a wait and watch in terms of where we are as a company, we're like just hold and understand what it is. No, not at all. I'm saying there are three-four different reasons why you go to cinema, for a consumer or for a film-maker, a theatre will always become a top experience. You actually have to get a person to leave his house, go buy ticket and go sit there, right? And from becoming general drama and others, I think, spectacle-cinema will take over a lot more because you will start coming a lot to theatres for an experience bigger than simple emotions because those are things you will, an OTT will suffice that part of your life. The kind of films will change. I mean OTT is here to stay, it’s such a boon for story-tellers in that sense.
Alternate Professions for these actors -
Abhishek Bachchan - I think AB can do anything pretty much, right? He already does so much in like sport. Sports Moghul, I like that sound to AB
Akshay Kumar - When does he not, I mean there is no time to do another job. You can't pick anymore. It’s full. You got to change your question. His calendar is full.
Riteish Deshmukh - A stand-up? He'll make an awesome stand-up
Taapsee Pannu - I think she'll be awesome producer. She'd really be an awesome producer
Dulquer Salman - Bernie Ecclestone types, somebody who owns Formula1 or something like that.
Vijay Devarkonda - Anything to do with attitude. I mean his attitude is like so strong and he's like, he could create a cult, I think.
Tamannah Bhatia - Anything to do with beauty. Like running a beauty products or company or something in that direction
Which actor you'd steal this particular thing from?
Whose hairstyle would you steal? - Just the fact that Anil Uncle, Anil Kapoor has so much hair. I think that's him, his hairstyle
Whose wardrobe would you steal? - Just start at Bandra and just go to different, like 4 jackets from Ranveer, 3 jackets from Karan, like just keep going to all of these guys….ya like that kind of stuff, belts from Allu Arjun
Whose bank balance would you steal? - I'm good with mine. You work hard, you just keep your money don't ask from other people
Whose Instagram game would you steal? - Dwayne Johnson, I think
Whose brand endorsement deals would you steal? - I like mine
Whose movies would you steal? - Wow, Mr. Kamal Haasan. That's something I want to steal
Whose PR Team would you steal? - I think my PR Team is the best, I think they are on the call, too. Imagine what's going to happen tomorrow if I say somebody else's.
No comments:
Post a Comment