Happy Birthday Rana Daggubati: 5 films that shaped the actor’s career

Tollywood star Rana Daggubati, who is gaining popularity among the masses for his tall and hunk personality and performances in movies, is celebrating his 35th birthday today (December 13). He has appeared in over a 25 films with a career spanning nearly two decades. Staring his journey with Leader, the actor has given several hit films such as Baahubali series, Rudramadevi, The Ghazi Attack and Nene Raju Nene Mantri. Like many Tollywood stars, the actor ventured into film production in 2004 with children's film Bommalata.

As he turns a year older today, here is a look at five films that shaped the actor's career and made him the superstar that he is now.

Sekhar Kammula's Leader was Rana's debut film as an actor. Co-starring Priya Anand, Richa Gangopadhyay, Suhasini, Subbaraju, Kota Srinivasa Rao, Rao Ramesh and Ahuti Prasad, the film was bankrolled by AVM Productions and was a super hit. The film saw Rana play the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh whose father has been assassinated by his wrongdoers, aims to rid the political system of corruption; thereby, he fulfils his father's ambition. While the film impressed audiences and critics alike with its exciting screenplay and story, it also extracted the best out of Rana in an out-and-out macho avatar.

He had made his debut with Leader, but it was SS Rajamouli's Baahubali that catapulted him to stardom. It came at a time when family and romantic comedy entertainers ruled Tollywood but these films were an epic action-drama and captured the imagination of the entire nation. Both Rana and his co-star Prabhas' ferocious fighting was loved by one and all. Above all, a country that was being served only action heroes got a new villain to crush on. Baahubali, which also featured Anushka Shetty, Tamannaah Bhatia, Sathyaraj, Nassar, and Ramya Krishnan, allowed Rana to explore his baddie side and it worked wonders on screen.

Rana Daggubati teamed up with Anushka Shetty for Gunasekhar's Rudramadevi. Based on the life of Kakatiya dynasty's ruler Rani Rudrama Devi, the film had superb music by Ilaiyaraaja and performances by Rana, Anushka, Allu Arjun, Prakash Raj, Suman, Nithya Menen, Catherine Tresa, Adithya Menon, and Hamsa Nandini. The film's success made Rana a bankable star of the Telugu film industry. Among the hit films directed by Gunasekhar, this flick won numerous prestigious awards.

One of the biggest hits of 2017, The Ghazi Attack deserves mention for the remarkable performances of the actors, Rana Daggubati, Atul Kulkarni, Kay Kay Menon, Taapsee Pannu, Rahul Singh and Satyadev Kancharana. The movie was directed by Sankalp Reddy and produced by PVP Cinema in association with Matinee Entertainment. The film has many surprises up its sleeves, and as each one gets unravelled, you marvel at the writing.

Directed by Teja, Nene Raju Nene Mantri cemented Rana's position as a hero in Tollywood. It was one of Rana's best films and managed to reap excellent profits at the box office. Rana plays a loan provider who later tries to become a politician in the movie, which was a big hit at the box office. Co-starring Kajal Aggarwal, Catherine Tresa, Navdeep, Ashutosh Rana, Shivaji Raja, the film dealt with the flawed political system in India.