Life Like

So much so that some IAS officers had to lodge a complaint with the television channel regarding his role in the serial.

“They were miffed with the fact that the Ammaji while refferring to my character in the serial used to address as “yeh DM.” They found it derogatory and we respected their feelings and Ammaji was asked to address the character with his name DK Vohra and not as “yeh DM,” explains Rana,who hails from Allahabad and is playing negative characters both in films and Television for a long time now (Reporter on DD,Tara on Zee TV).

The TV channel’s creative head Saurabh Tewary adds: “We showed the corrupt official being chastised and being deprived of his designation. Once he lost his office,there was no need to refer to him as DM.”

“I have played positive characters too but my personality suits negative roles more,hence I end up playing the bad guy,” says Rana,elaborating on his role in …Laado: “I was sent to investigate the cases of female foeticide in Ammaji’s village but the villain in me starts blackmailing the dominating woman (played by Meghna Malik). Not only does he take bribe but he also orders Ammaji to arrange for sexual favours.”

“Laado was already a hit but my entry as corrupt DM has brought about a much needed TRP twist in the story,” says Rana and is credited with playing important characters in TV serials like Reporter and in the film Mangal Pandey-The Rising.

“It’s been a long and satisfying journey,” says Rana who recently announced about his plans of starting a a production house.

“We already had a production house called the Vakratund Productions for television serials but now we have plans to produce a full length feature film on a satarical story by Ashok Mishra,Welcome to Sajjanpur fame writer,” says Rana who has named his production house as Phaphamau Castle Films.

“We still have a house in Phaphamau in Allahabad,hence the name…I hope it works,” says the actor who had married Natasha Rana aka Chhoti Maa of Bidaai fame.

“She is a part of our production house and we are working on some projects,” says the actor who has done his post-graduation from the Department of Theatre,Punjab University before joining Nadira Babbar’s theatre group,Ekjut,in 1989.

“Years after stage performances,stint with television started with Tara,where I was paired opposite Ratna Pathak-Shah,” reminisces Rana who later bagged another major role in Reporter of which he did nearly 100 episodes.

His other significant roles include The Great Maratha,Shatranj,Yug,Umeed,Chanakya,Chandrakanta,Udaan and The Sword of Tipu Sultan.

A veteran of few films including Saathiya and Mangal Pandey – The Rising,Rana is currently focusing only on small screen.

“In fact,I am only doing …Laado. Other projects are under consideration and hope they materialise soon,” signs off the talented actor.