Rana compares Animal and Rana Naidu

In a recent podcast, Rana Daggubati reflected on his character in the web series Rana Naidu, noting a shift in audience perception after the release of the film 'Animal.' He recalled how initially, viewers were critical of Rana Naidu, but after Animal, his character seemed more acceptable to them. In the podcast called 'Rawtalks,' Rana Daggubati humorously remarked, "Everyone was freaking the hell out. Then Animal released. Then I was like, 'Hey, now I look like a decent guy'. What’s wrong with you?”

During a roundtable discussion, Rana Daggubati acknowledged a decrease in his popularity after the release of Rana Naidu. He explained his decision to join the web series, stating his interest in addressing taboo topics through mainstream storytelling. He said, “I was always interested in topics that are taboo to society that you can tell in a very mainstream form. Because at some point, we try to tell it in cinema and it becomes very arthouse, it becomes a sub-genre in some ways. But this had child abuse in a gangster drama set inside of a family. To me, that was very interesting. It’s a family drama that everyone gets. It has topics that you don’t want to talk about or spoken very boldly and harshly so that was the first reason I got onto it.”

While the debut season of Rana Naidu was praised by audiences, it also faced controversy due to strong language and intimate scenes. Rana Daggubati and Venkatesh have returned to the spotlight as they kick-start the shooting for the second season of Rana Naidu. The action-packed Netflix series follows Rana, called the ‘fixer of the stars,’ as he solves the complex cases of famous personalities. Season one saw Rana involved in chaos when his father was released from prison. Meanwhile, the original cast left audiences impressed with their performance and the makers are leaving no stones unturned to ensure the new season’s success. To add more excitement, Dino Morea has joined the cast for a major role. Sources reveal that the Raaz star will play the character of a cop, and Pinkvilla reports indicate that filming for his part has already begun.

Rana Naidu, an official remake of the American series Ray Donovan, is directed by Karan Anshuman and Suparn Varma. Other than Venkatesh Daggubati, Rana Daggubati, and Dino Morea, the cast includes Suchitra Pillai, Gaurav Chopra, and Surveen Chawla.