When Rana Daggubati says that his lifehas been pretty much on the sets, hemeans it, literally. After all, he comesfrom a lineage of prolific producers,directors and actors. His father,

Suresh Babu Daggubati, is one of the most well-known producers in South Indian cinema, while hisgrandfather, Ramanaidu Daggubati is a DadasahebPhalke award winning multilingual Indian film pro-ducer. In fact, Rana's house in Hyderabad was ashooting set for a number of films, and a meetingpoint for actors, producers and directors. So, is itsafe to assume that he took to films because of hisbackground? "You could say that," begins Rana, "See,growing up in a family such as mine naturally ex-poses you to the workings of the film industry, givesyou tremendous knowledge, a great platform andenough backing. And in the course, I developed myown opinions on cinema and the kind of work Iwant to do." Being part of an illustrious family canwork as a double-edged sword, he says. "So no mat-ter what I do, I know that failure is not an option,"he says.

That explains why he started off his career as aproducer and even went on to win a Nandi Awardfor his work as visual effects producer (for a Telugufilm, Sainikudu) in 2006, and a National Film Awardfor Best Feature Film in Telugu for his debut film asproducer (Bommalata - A Bellyful Of Dreams) thesame year. But he was not convinced just yet, as hewanted to try out different avenues in films. Hechose to make his debut as an actor with a ratherunconventional role, as a suave politician, in Leader(a Telugu film) in 2010. While most actors plan their

move to Bollywood strategically, for years togethersometimes, Rana made his Bollywood entry even asthe promos of his debut Telugu film were on air. Heplayed the role of a laidback Goan musician in Ro-han Sippy's Dum Maaro Dum (2011), and later, atough cop in Department (2012) where he sharedscreen space with Amithabh Bhachan and SanjayDutt, two of his favourite actors. He believes indrawing inspiration from his favourite movies andre-visiting some of them in his own career. "Leader,for instance, I felt, was close to Nayakan, one of myall-time favourite movies. For Dum Maaro Dum, Idrew parallels with Amores Perros, anotherfavourite," he adds.

He is, however, most excited about KrishnamVande Jagadgurum (KVJ), his new Telugu film. "It'sunlike anything I have done before," says Rana, whois also shooting for an untitled Vishnuvardhan filmand a Selvaraghavan film, both in Tamil, besidesworking on an English film titled A MomentaryLapse Of Reason.

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The incredible

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OH MAN!The idea of malegaze has turned onits head with mennow becomingobjects of desire.Over the last fewyears, images ofmale bodies havebecome far morecommon dispellingthe myth that"women don't look.This issue of Chic isa celebration ofmen as the new armcandy. We haveRana Daggubati onthe cover. Need wesay more!

- Editor

ADVERTORIAL AND PROMOTIONAL FEATURE

A PRESENTATION FROMTHE TIMES OF INDIA

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FRIDAY, 26 OCTOBER, 2012

{ T O P S T O R Y }HARINI SRIRAM