Rana Daggubati completed the shoot of Aranya which is titled Haathi Mere Saathi in Hindi. The tri-lingual is directed by Prabhu Solomon and discusses about the importance of wildlife and how they can be preserved. Rana plays Aranya in the film which was initially planned for April 2nd release. With a bunch of Bollywood films releasing on Amazon, several other filmmakers are in talks to sell off the digital rights of their films.

Digital giant Netflix approached the makers to acquire the rights of Aranya and they quoted a decent price. Rana’s father Suresh Babu is in talks with the makers and Netflix to close the deal. The long-delayed project is made on a huge budget and is shot extensively in India and Thailand’s dense forests. An official announcement about the same is expected soon. Eros International bankrolled Aranya and Rana’s look impressed many.

Rana Daggubati’s long-delayed film Aranya’s post-production work is happening at a fast pace. The actor dubbed for his role in Telugu, Hindi and he completed dubbing work. The VFX work is in the final stages and some of the shots are yet to be ready. With coronavirus scare shaking the nation, a bunch of releases on April 2nd (in Telugu) and to avoid the last-minute rush, the makers of Aranya decided to push the release date of the film.

Aranya / Haathi Mere Saathi will hit the screens during the third or last week of April and an official word from the makers will be made at the earliest. Prabhu Solomon directed this social drama. Rana Daggubati plays Aranya who fights for the conservation of animals and wildlife. Eros International bankrolled this big-budget project. Aranya’s delay is sure a relief for Anushka’s Nishabdham and Vaisshnav Tej’s Uppena. Both these films are gearing up for April 2nd release.

Actor Rana Daggubati lost almost 30 kgs for his upcoming movie “Haathi Mere Saathi”, in which he will be seen playing the role of a jungle man called Bandev.

To fit into the shape of his character, Rana followed a strict diet and underwent extensive training.

“Prabu Solomon sir (director) 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 and learning experience for me,” Rana informed.

The trilingual movie shot in two different countries, in four forest locales in Kerala, Mahabaleshwar, Mumbai in India, and in Thailand, took 250 days to shoot, involving 145 cast and crew. The film will also release as “Kaadan” in Tamil and “Aranya” in Telugu.

Rana is the protagonist in all three titles. While Pulkit Samrat plays Rana’s parallel lead in the Hindi version, southern actor Vishnu Vishal essays the role in “Kaadan” and “Aranya”.

The heroines in all three versions are Shriya Pilgaonkar and Zoya Hussain.

The movie is inspired by the unfortunate event of humans encroaching upon the elephant corridor in Kaziranga, Assam. It traces the narrative of a man, essayed by Rana, who dedicates most of his life living in the jungle, with the sole purpose of protecting wild animals.

Produced by Eros International, “Haathi Mere Saathi” is slated to hit the screens on April 2.

Actor Rana Daggubati says as he began journeying with the character “Aranya”, which involved him spending time in the forest, he understood how a man from the jungles would look like.

For his forthcoming movie “Aranya”, he took his body transformations to the extreme, undertook immense physical and mental efforts to portray the character.

“As I began journeying with the character, which involved me spending time in the forest and getting to know a herd of elephants, it started becoming clearer how this person, a forest man, would look. And here we are, looking at Aranya/Bandev/Kaadan in his present form,” said Rana.

The tri-lingual movie shot in two different countries, in four forest locales in Kerala, Mahabaleshwar, Mumbai in India, and in Thailand, took 250 days to shoot, involving 145 cast and crew.

Rana is the protagonist in all three titles. While Pulkit Samrat plays Rana’s parallel lead in the Hindi version, southern actor Vishnu Vishal essays the role in “Kaadan” and “Aranya”.

The heroines in all three versions are Shriya Pilgaonkar and Zoya Hussain.

The movie is inspired by the unfortunate event of humans encroaching upon the elephant corridor in Kaziranga, Assam. The film traces the narrative of a man, essayed by Rana, who dedicates most of his life living in the jungle, with the sole purpose of protecting wild animals.

Produced by Eros International, the film’s VFX has been done by Prana Studios, who have worked on Hollywood biggies such as “Life Of Pi”, “Thor” and the Bollywood film, “Detective Bymokesh Bakshi”.

It is slated to hit the screens on April 2.

Actor Rana Daggubati, who will soon be seen in “Aranya”, has said that his forthcoming film mirrors society.

“We are not trying to give any social message through this film, but it mirrors society. This (human encroachment) is happening in many parts of the country and in many parts of the world. Everywhere there is an elephant corridor and there is urbanisation. Obviously there are cities that grow and break their (animals) natural habitat, so a sense of co-existence is what Bandev (his character’s name) teaches you in the film,” Rana said at the poster and teaser launch of the film. Also present at the do were co-actors Zoya Hussain, Shriya Pilgaonkar and the film’s director Prabhu Soloman.

Talking about recent happenings around the world like wildfires in the Amazon rainforest and bushfires in Australia, Rana said: “As filmmakers or as artists, we have the tool to voice out certain things. To voice out means to influence people and to influence them in the most entertaining way. I remember, at least 10-15 years ago the campaign about saving the tigers had begun, and films, documentaries have been made. Ten years later, we stand with the bigger tiger population than we had 10 years ago, so you know that a man can change but someone has to come forward and take that first step. I think as filmmakers it was our first tool to give back to the environment, tell a very engaging and entertaining story, which can influence you all to do things.”

In the film, conflict arises when a corporate giant threatens to destroy the jungle and the eco-system of elephants, and the hero — a son of the soil and protector of the forest — rises to protect his home, the forest.

“Haathi Mere Saathi” was originally the title of a Rajesh Khanna-Tanuja superhit that released in 1971. On the old classic, Rana commented: “It’s really about animals and men being friends, and I think his (Rajesh Khanna) film was a tribute to that too.”

“Haathi Mere Saathi” stars Pulkit Samrat along with Rana in the Hindi version. The film is simultaneously being shot in Hindi, Telugu, and Tamil, with a different cast across languages, and is slated to release on April 2.

When all the actors are busy with native commercial capers, Rana Dagggubati is the only actor who was always keen on signing interesting films that appealed to wider sections of audience and most of them happened to be experiments. He was extremely impressed with the narration of Prabhu Solomon who directed some meaningful Tamil movies. The film is titled Haathi Mere Saathi / Aranya / Kaadan and is inspired by a real-life incident. The story narrates about the bonding between a human being and an elephant.

Rana Daggubati revealed that the film was shot for almost 200 days and he was present for most of the shoot. The shoot of the film was kept on hold due to various reasons and it got delayed. Aranya was shot in seven thick forests in various parts of the world. He lauded Prabhu Solomon for his work and thanked Eros International which stood as a huge support. Rana sounds extremely confident on the film and he says that he has a winner in his hands. Aranya is slated for release on April 2nd in Telugu, Hindi and Tamil languages.