As I was shooting for Baahubali 2 and The Ghazi Attack at almost the same time, my size was the bigger issue. I had to look extremely thick and beefy for Baahubali and I had to look sleek in The Ghazi Attack
Baahubali and I had to look sleek in The Ghazi Attack for I play a naval officer in it. So, shifting between weights was the challenging part because of the constraints of time. I had just four to five weeks each way. I wish I had had a little more time but it wasn’ t there as the schedules were that way. To drop muscle size is not easy. So, what I did was I deprived myself of proteins for four to five weeks. I finished The Ghazi Attack entirely and then went back to Baahubali 2 for which I again had to put on weight. But yes, it got done very satisfactorily and we are very happy with the result.
Anything that Rajamouli works on ends up being a success. What kind of person is he?
Rajamouli is a filmmaker who is very sincere to his craft. His command on his craft is really solid and I think he constantly learns and keeps getting better and better at what he does. I think that is what sets him apart. Also, he is a very motivating person.
Your other film, The Ghazi Attack, is also hogging the limelight. Tell us about it.
It is India’ s first war-at-sea film. It is based on the 1971 incident of PNS Ghazi coming to attack INS Vikrant. Ghazi came to the Eastern Naval Command, which was at Vishakhapatnam at that point. It was taken down and it happened two days before the war on the midnight of December third and fourth, 1971. December 4th was declared as Indian Navy Day and four days later the Indo- Pak war of 1971 broke out. So, this was one of those incidents that were classified and kept under wraps for a long time. It was an important story to tell as it was a victory for our Navy. There have been many films on the Army and the police but there has not been a film on our Navy, which is the fifth largest in the world. They defend a huge coastline. Our Navy is really big but very few people know about it. So, it was an important story to tell and it came out well as an action thriller. It is a national film, which will be out in Telugu, Hindi and Tamil.
There are several versions of what happened on the night that Ghazi was taken down. Which version has the team stuck to and why did you pick that version?
One it is based on a book called The Blue Fish, which has been written by the director Sankalp Reddy himself. That forms the first portion and the trail of the film moves from there. After that, what happened is classified and none of us are ever going to know what really happened on it. We have spoken to many persons and there are many versions. Everybody has a version. Even Pakistan has its own version of it. Ultimately, what we have done is we have taken the best parts of all the versions and then stitched it all together based on the inputs that we got. We created fictional characters inside the ship.
Taapsee Pannu is seen in the submarine in a trailer of the film. Does her character figure in any of the actual versions that are there on the taking down of Ghazi?
In one of the versions, there is a Bangladeshi refugee ship that is burning. It is a merchant ship that is somewhere on the same coast. The details of the survivors are not there. So, Taapsee plays a Bangladeshi refugee. When the Indo-Pak war took place, lots of Bangladeshis took refuge in India and continued living here.
Rana, you are also acting in a Tamil film that is yet to be titled. Tell us amore about it.
“ I have just started this film which tells the story of a soldier during the British rule. It is being directed by Sathya Siva, who directed the hit film Kazhugu in Tamil. The film has Regina, Nasser, Sathyaraj and a large number of British actors in it. We were shooting for this film in Kerala. We shot for a week in Kerala and for another week in Chennai. As of now, we have completed 10-20 per cent of this film.
Speaking of Kerala, what do you like most about it?
I have always been fond of Kerala. I have been going there for events. In the film, we wanted old British colonial buildings and Cochin has a lot of those. We are trying to create that old Madras in the film. We shot for just a week and the schedule was packed. I had very little time to travel. But I am fond of Kerala food. I haven’ t spent that much time there and I would love to spend much more. We have another big schedule coming up in Kerala and so yeah, I am looking forward to it.
I have been coming to Kerala for events and shoots. I have always been fond of Kerala
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