Rana Daggubati on what inspires industry kids like him, Dulquer Salmaan to back films like Sabar Bonda, Lokah: ‘Cinema gave us that privileged background, we should keep giving back’

Not many people know that six years before making his acting debut with Sekhar Kammula’s 2010 political drama Leader, Rana Daggubati became a National Award-winning producer. He co-produced Prakash Kovelamudi’s children’s film Bommalata in 2004, which won a National Award for Best Feature Film in Telugu. Ever since then, Rana has backed not only Telugu and Tamil films as a producer, but also backed award-winning film festival favourites like Payal Kapadia’s All We Imagine As Light last year and Rohan Kanwade’s Sabar Bonda this year, under his company Spirit Media.

In an exclusive interview with SCREEN, the actor opens up about what drives him to back independent films, particularly those outside his native language, what really constitutes a pan-India film, and his excitement for SS Rajam