Signing on a film like Haathi Mere Saathi is not everybody’s cup of tea. The adventure drama demanded the actor to give almost a year of his time prepping, training with elephants, shooting in unheard-of locations away far away and even transforming the body and body language. But Rana Daggubati took up this challenge with a big smile as he had a noble reason for it. Apart from being a part of a unique and noble story, it was his way of giving back to nature and mankind.
Sharing his reasons, Rana says—
The story idea of Haathi Mere Saathi originated in Prabu Solomon’s mind. And if you watch some of his films in Tamil like Kumki and Mynaa, they are rooted and set close to the jungles. He wanted to make a big film which is adventurous and with elephants and also underlining a cause that he’s believed in overtime. Eros and he brought the film to me.
Talking about his decision to dedicate himself to the Prabu Solomon helmed trilingual film, Rana further elaborates—
After Baahubali, I was like, ‘Okay, what do I do now?’ To me, Bandev was a very noble character to play. Because he was a man fighting for the elephants, fighting for the jungle. When I heard the story first, it felt like an older version of Mowgli. If Mowgli grew up and had a problem with society, what would he do?
Explaining why Haathi Mere Saathi has a global appeal, Rana says—
What I also realised is elephants, animals and nature is so connected with us no matter which part of the country you reside in. So it’s the best film you could mount and bring out as a national film.
Rana’s reasons for calling the trilingual noble, are bang on. Talking about the same he concludes—
We’re living in a time where we are so aware of how the environment changes and how we need to be careful and do the right thing. So in that sense, it ticks off as being a huge adventurous film and at the same time coming with a message that is very noble.
Haathi Mere Saathi is a story inspired by multiple events and traces the narrative of a man (Rana Daggubati), who spends most of his life in the jungle, dedicated to protecting the ecosystem. 2021’s first trilingual film, will release as Aranya in Telegu and as Kaadan in Tamil.
This will be a hat-trick for Rana as Haathi Mere Saathi is the third trilingual film, post the mammoth Baahubali series and The Ghazi Attack, films that received immense love across the globe.
The film is produced by Eros Motion Pictures, a division of Eros STX Global Corporation and also stars Pulkit Samrat, Shriya Pilgaonkar and Zoya Hussain. Haathi Mere Saathi is all set to hit the big screens on 26th March 2021.