Family Matters

Having experimented with photography at 17,Daggubati was already editing film promos in Class 12. He followed it up by turning cinematographer and then starting a visual effects company,Spirits Media in the South. “I started with a team of two artistes and we soon grew to over 150. I consider it as one of my contributions to the film industry since there weren’t many people doing special effects back then,” he says. He later tied up with Prime Focus to become a visual effects major in the South. But Daggubatti’s heart lay in filmmaking. He turned producer with A Belly Full Of Dreams,a children’s film,which won him a national award in 2006.

He admits that his film family background has had an effect on him. “It’s like being in a film school right from Class I. I realise very few get such exposure,” he smiles.

It was Daggubati’s intense yet poised performance as a politician in Leader that charmed the audience. Sippy realised the actor’s potential when he saw the rushes. “Rohan called me after he saw the promos and it was a great opportunity to explore the kind of roles that Hindi cinema offer—-like that of playing a Goan musician,which is not something I would otherwise get to do down South,” he avers.

Though Duggabati is currently known for his urban chic looks,he is set to break the mould with Dum Maro Dum. “I had to grow my hair and learn how to play the guitar,” he admits.

Guitar was probably the easier part; it was getting rid of the South accent that took more effort. “Rohan sent me the script way ahead of the shooting schedule and I took diction training to rehearse the dialogues.”

After Dum Maro Dum,Daggubatti is now looking forward to the action-packed Telugu film with Raghavan,which will simultaneously be made in Tamil. The actor is also looking at a long innings in Bollywood,where another Hindi film is in offing. However,unlike many of his contemporaries,he insists that he won’t shift base to Mumbai. “Home is Hyderabad . The roots are very strong and too deep to move anywhere else,” he says.

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