Rana Daggubati is back to playing the tough, no-nonsense fixer in Rana Naidu season 2, which was released recently on Netflix. The actor, who is quite candid and articulate in real life, transforms into a stoic and aggressive personality on-screen. Along with writer-creator Karan Anshuman, Rana discusses shooting for the second season and how he forays into playing a complex character with multiple shades.
Karan talks about taking the plot ahead while raising the stakes and amping up the tension. For him, it wasn’t the character arcs or story dimensions that felt overwhelming to piece together, but rather the experience of working with a diverse set of actors, including Venkatesh, Arjun Rampal, Surveen Chawla, Abhishek Banerjee, Sushant Singh, Rajat Kapoor, and Kriti Kharbanda. “We had to make sure that we use every single one of them effectively. And luckily, in a series format, you can do that, and everyone can have their moment,” says Karan.
The two were joined by series head at Netflix, Tanya Bami, as the discussion expanded on understanding the streaming platform’s strategy as they recently renewed second seasons for shows like The Royals and Black Warrant. Tanya also reflected on the possibility of making a show like Adolescence in India, why she believes algorithms can’t drive storytelling and more.
Rana, what's it like to revisit the show for season 2 after working on other projects?
I didn’t do a lot of other work in between. So, I think that helped (laughs). But, during the first season, I was a bit confused as an actor because my brain used to work in that three-hour window, and I could understand only 60 or 70 scenes together. The first season had ten episodes. So, it was much longer. It was about thirty days into the shoot of season one, that I really understood what was going on. Season two was pretty exceptional. I remember, one day, we were shooting a scene with Rana Naidu’s family and I hadn’t met most of the actors for a long time. But when we walked back into the house where we were shooting, we were on cue. It felt like the shooting never stopped.
Karan, making a season 2 has its own pressure of matching the reputation of the first while also offering something new. How did you work around that?
To be honest that wasn't too difficult because I don't work with expectations. But I definitely wanted to bring something fresh and new. We thought of taking the relationships a bit further, bringing more action into the show and putting our characters in situations that amp up the scale.
Tanya, along with Rana Naidu, Netflix recently renewed other shows like Black Warrant and The Royals for second seasons. Both of these shows were received quite differently. So, what goes behind deciding to renew certain shows for the next season?
I don't think there's a one-size-fits-all kind of approach to this because then we wouldn't be true to content. Our entire focus is to tell different stories and tell them in the best way. Audience love is very important to us. It is about how audiences receive certain stories that really compels us to make more of them. Everybody had different reactions to The Royals but no one has been able to ignore it. Similarly, Black Warrant is a distinct show that requires us to make more and more of it.
Rana, you have worked earlier in some high-octane mainstream blockbusters and in Rana Naidu, you play a no-nonsense guy in a gritty setting. How does preparing for both these genres differ?
Every role you play has a very different approach because it's written by different sets of writers. For Rana Naidu, the hardest thing for me to understand was the stoicism of my character. I don’t really see stoic people in India. It's okay in an American setting where you see this hitman walking across an entire city without talking to anybody. For me, finding this rhythm was difficult, as he is one person with his family and completely another when he is working. Everything about him is measured.
Karan, Arjun Rampal has joined the series as the antagonist. How was the experience of working with him?
We needed someone to match Rana’s size and physicality. So, Arjun was our first choice. The best thing about him was that he really pushed all of us. He would come up with newer ideas on set. I am not someone who likes to change things while shooting. So, it was odd for me to take a suggestion and say, ‘That really sounds better’. But it worked out so well even during the action scenes between him and Rana.
Tanya, a Netflix show that has done quite well this year is Adolescence. Do you think something like that can be made in India too?
Definitely. What we would love to see from the creative community in India is something like the craft of Adolescence which will make us push our boundaries. It is about the new ideas that we are able to bring, be it in the subject, or the treatment.
Many also said that the show went against the algorithm in its storytelling…
I wish algorithms could tell stories. Then I wouldn't have to wait two years to launch any new season. We will do it in two months. But, jokes apart, I think, it will have to be a shared dream between the creative partners and us. We hope to find those.
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