Rana Daggubati opens up about impact of COVID-19 on film industry; shares personal example

Tollywood actor Rana Duggubati in a recent interaction spoke about his movie Haathi Mere Saathi not working well at the box office due to the pandemic. The actor also opened up about the challenges the filmmakers will have to face while creating new content. 

Rana Duggubati on how COVID-19 impacted the film industry 

Talking to Hans India, he said that Haathi Mere Saathi's release date had to be changed several times due to the pandemic. He added that the "impact of such a decision had to be kept at bay looking at what people around were going through as it was a very difficult time for the people of India as their lives were impacted severely." Rana explained that Haathi Mere Saathi was a very special and poignant film and it was a beautiful experience putting that film together in different languages with different cast members.

Talking further about the upcoming movies he said that the audience had watched so much content across languages and cultures on different channels in the last 18 months that filmmaking across the board will now have to be improved. On the other hand, filmmakers will have to see what kind of content will work in which space and also bifurcation between what's suited for the big screen and what's better for the OTT space will also become clearer.

Haathi Mere Saathi was shot simultaneously in Tamil, Telugu, and Hindi languages, each with slightly different cast members. Initially scheduled for release on 2 April 2020, the film release was then indefinitely postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Tamil and Telugu versions of the movie was released on March 26, 2021, but the Hindi version has not been released yet.

On the work front, Rana Dagubatti will be next seen in the period drama Virata Parvam. The movie will also feature Sai Pallavi, Priyamani, Nandita Das, Naveen Chandra, Zarina Wahab and Easwari Rao. He will also be seen in the untitled Telugu remake of the 2020 Malayalam film Ayyappanum Koshiyum. The movie will also star Pawan Kalyan, Nithya Menen, and Aishwarya Rajesh.

Image: Rana Dagubatti's Instagram