Rana Daggubati

Ramanaidu "Rana" Daggubati (born 14 December 1984) is an Indian actor and producer known primarily for his work in Telugu language films, in addition to Tamil and Hindi languages.

Rana is described as one of the few actors in India who were able to achieve pan-Indian appeal, having taken up a variety of roles, from leading roles to supporting characters, in different languages.

He made his acting debut with the Telugu film Leader, for which he won the Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut – South.

As a visual effects producer, Rana won the State Nandi Award for Best Special Effects in 2006 for the Telugu film Sainikudu.

In 2006, he received the National Film Award for co-producing Bommalata. Rana is also an established television personality, hosting award shows such as the 2nd IIFA Utsavam, the South Indian International Movie Awards.

He also hosts his own celebrity talk show, No. 1 Yaari. Alongside building a career in cinema, Rana is invested in businesses ranging from a business accelerator programme for technology startups, to an entertainment agency and a comic book company.

Daggubati became the board member of Mumbai Academy of the Moving Image.

Ramanaidu Daggubati was born in Madras (present-day Chennai), Tamil Nadu to Telugu film producer D. Suresh Babu.

He was named after his paternal grandfather, D. Ramanaidu, a prominent producer in Telugu cinema.

A member of the Daggubati–Akkineni family, his paternal uncle Venkatesh and his cousin Naga Chaitanya are also actors.

Rana's debut film as an actor in Telugu was Leader (2010), directed by Shekhar Kammula.

It remains one of his highest grossers.

In it, he plays the role of an aspiring Chief minister of Andhra Pradesh.

It opened to rave reviews from critics with his performance got much praise.

A critic from The Times of India stated that "Another lineage star RaNa takes his first bow at the BO with an inspiring political saga, a far cry from the formula-ridden films that his ilk usually begin with including his uncle and star Venkatesh."

His performance in the film fetched him two awards – Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut – South and CineMAA Award for Best Male Debut.

He later starred in the Hindi film Dum Maaro Dum (2011), alongside Bipasha Basu, where he received positive reviews for his performance and won the Zee Cine Award for Best Male Debut.

Rana made his Hindi debut with the film Dum Maaro Dum, which released on 22 April 2011.

alongside Bipasha Basu and Abhishek Bachchan where he received positive reviews for his performance and won the Zee Cine Award for Best Male Debut.The Times of India called it a "dashing debut".

Taran Adarsh commented that "Much of the joy comes from watching Rana Daggubati infuse believability into his character. He's easy on the eyes and is a complete natural when it comes to acting."

He won the Zee Cine Award for Best Male Debut for his performance in the film.

In his next Telugu film, Nenu Naa Rakshasi (2011), he played a professional killer Abhimanyu alongside Ileana D'Cruz, under Puri Jagannadh's direction It was a box-office bomb.

A reviewer of NDTV wrote that "Rana's attempt to prove himself as a commercial hero has not taken off and he should wait for another break."

In 2012, Rana gained prominence by starring in the hit Telugu film Krishnam Vande Jagadgurum.

Rana had three releases in 2012.

In 2015, he played a notable supporting role in the successful Hindi film Baby (2015).

He later starred as Bhallaladeva, the main antagonist in the Telugu film Baahubali: The Beginning (2015), which recorded the second highest gross opening for an Indian film.

He has also simultaneously starred in successful films such as Rudramadevi (2015), Ghazi (2017), and Nene Raju Nene Mantri (2017).

He then featured in a supporting role in the Tamil film Bangalore Naatkal (2016).

Rana revealed in 2016 that he is blind in his right eye, and his left eye is a transplanted one.

The surgery was done in L. V. Prasad Hospital, Hyderabad.

Another surgery was done on his right eye when he was 14, but was unsuccessful.

Rana did his early schooling in Chennai at Chettinad Vidyashram.

He later shifted to Hyderabad, Telangana, where he studied at Nalanda Vidya Bhavan High School and The Hyderabad Public School, Begumpet.

At Hyderabad Public School, he was classmates with Ram Charan, Sharwanand, Nikhil Siddharth, and Nag Ashwin.

His collegiate studies were at St. Mary's College, Hyderabad.

Rana holds a degree in Industrial photography.

He lives with his family in Film Nagar Hyderabad.

He also owns a flat in Mumbai.

In 2017, Rana later reprised his role as Bhallaladeva in Baahubali 2: The Conclusion, which became the highest grossing Indian film of all time.