Rana Daggubati: It was difficult to lose weight since I have always been a guy with a big physique

Rana Daggubati went through a massive physical transformation for his upcoming trilingual film, Haathi Mere Saathi. Set for release on April 2, the Eros International production, directed by Prabu Solomon, stars Rana as the protagonist in all three languages along with Vishnu Vishal in Tamil (Kaadan) and  Telugu (Aranya). Meanwhile, the Hindi version Haathi Mere Saathi also features Pulkit Samrat as the parallel lead along with Shriya Pilgaonkar and Zoya Hussain. 

To get his look right for the film, Rana followed a strict diet and underwent extensive training to lose over 30 kg of weight. In the film, he’s seen sporting a heavy beard and grey hair, and has a tilted shoulder. Interestingly, the makers tried different looks for the character and until the first day his final look wasn’t revealed to him.

Giving us details about the massive physical transformation, Rana revealed, “Prabu sir wanted everything to be real and organic. It was very difficult for me to lose all the weight since I have always been a guy with a big physique. I had to undergo extensive physical training to get the lean look for this character of Bandev. It has been a wonderful learning experience for me.”

Inspired by the human encroachment of the elephant corridors in Kaziranga, Assam, the film stars Rana as a man who dedicates most of his life in the jungle to the sole purpose of protecting the animals inhabiting it. Later, he becomes part of a conflict in order to protect the wild.