Nani challenges the pan-India craze: ‘A film doesn’t become one just by releasing in five languages’

Actor Nani, who is gearing up for the release of Dasara, has been aggressively promoting his forthcoming film. He said that he doesn’t feel he has finally jumped on the pan-Indian wagon as he still feels Dasara is a Telugu film that is being released in multiple languages as it has elements that will connect with audiences across languages. (Also Read | Nani reacts to Dasara being compared with KGF and Pushpa)

In Dasara, directed by debutant Odella Srikanth, Nani plays a character called Dharani. As part of a recent media interaction, he agreed that Dharani was the most challenging character of his career. Talking about everyone’s obsession with making pan-Indian movies at the moment, Nani said releasing a film in multiple languages doesn’t make it pan-Indian.

“Dasara is a Telugu film that we felt will appeal to audiences across languages. Hence, we decided to release it in multiple languages. Dasara is set in a world that’ll be alien to Telugu as well as Hindi audiences. That’s what makes this film unique. A film doesn’t become pan-Indian just by being released in five languages,” Nani told Hindustan Times. He said what makes a film truly pan-Indian is the acceptance of the audience.

“When Baahubali 1 was released, it wasn’t a pan-Indian film. After audiences lapped up the first part in a big way, the hype around the second part grew manifolds and that naturally made Baahubali 2 a truly pan-Indian project. It’s the same case with the KGF series and Pushpa. Audiences make a film pan-Indian with their acceptance,” he said. While Baahubali: The Beginning released in 2015, Baahubali 2: The Conclusion hit the screens in 2017.

Talking about transforming into a character he has never attempted before, Nani credits his director for becoming Dharani in the film. “Srikanth is a debutant but what I really like about him is his clarity about what he wants. When we started shooting, it really took me a while to get used to the character, especially with respect to what he wanted from me in terms of performance. I still remember the first day of the shoot. It was one take after another and Srikanth was just not satisfied. It was after I took a small break and sat down with him, I sensed what he was looking for,” he said.

Nani went on to describe Dasara as “pure raw, rustic, and adrenaline-rush of a film”. The movie is set against the backdrop of Singareni coal mines near Godavarikhani in Telangana.

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