Highlights
- Rana Daggubati trained with 30 elephants for his new film.
- His film, Haathi Mere Saathi, is based on the man-animal conflict.
- Rana Daggubati finds the natural beauty of Australia alluring.
Bahubali actor Rana Daggubati never fails to surprise his audience.
In his latest movie Haathi Mere Sa
athi, Mr Daggubati is seen bonding with wild elephants.
He has played the character of an elephant-herder who fights for the natural habitat of his animals.
Mr Daggubati says it was a challenging role as he had to stay, train and shoot with elephants in the jungles of Thailand and India for the film, which has been released in cinema halls on March 26.
“When 30 elephants come charging at you, even playfully, the ground literally shakes,'' Mr Daggubatti says.
"One is scared a little, but that is the kind of commitment my role demanded."
Mr Daggubati says he has never done a film like this before.
"I have tried to bring something different to my audience every time, be it an underwater submarine or a kingdom," he says.
"I have brought a jungle to my fans this time."
Mr Daggubati says his character Bandev in Hathi Mere Sathi is different from Bhallaldev of Bahubali, a blockbuster that shot him to fame.
"Bandev is everything Bhallaldev was not," he says.
"If Bhallal was arrogant and cruel, Bandev is just the opposite.
"Physically Bhallal was a buffed up king whereas Bandev is the lean man of the wild, an animal but with a humane side to him."
He says that working in this film, staying in the wild forests, has given him a new motivation to visit Australia, a land he has never visited before.
Mr Daggubati says shooting in three languages with three different casts was more challenging than training with the elephants.
“You have to get all the cultural nuances of a language right in a movie," the actor says with a smile.
"And I had to get everything right thrice.”
Mr Daggubati says his latest movie has inspired him to visit Australia.
“You may find it funny, but I have never been to Australia," he says.
"Nothing called out to me before, but after Haathi Mere Saathi, the wild of your country, the beauty of coral reefs, the diving excursions- all attract me.
His film has released in Indian and Australian cinema halls on March 26.
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