Failures teach what not to do

In his short and "experimental journey" in filmdom, the probability of success and failure has been high, says Telegu filmstar Rana Daggubati and adds that failures have taught him not to repeat the same mistakes.

"Since my journey has been experimental, the probability of success or failure is high. But I've always learned a thing or two from the experience. Most importantly, I learned what not to do from my failures," Rana told.

Rana has starred in "Leader", "Department" and "Dum Maaro Dum" and his last two films have not been so successful.

Currently, the actor is gearing up for the release of Telugu revenge-drama "Krishnam Vande Jagatgurum" (KVJ) and describes it as yet another experimental project.

"KVJ is also an experimental film with all commercial elements. The film aims to celebrate long forgotten art form called theatre," Rana said.

He plays a theatre artist in the film belonging to a troupe called Surabhi, for whom drama is not only livelihood, but a profession and an art form.

"Surabhi group is still considered one of the best drama troupes in the country. Not many know the first Telugu heroine Kamalabai who acted in 'Bhakta Prahlada' was from the same troupe".

Is KVJ all about a forgotten art form?

"No. The film has all commercial elements to be called an entertainer. While one aspect of the story is about an ancient art form, the other one is about illegal mining and its effect on the livelihood of people," the 27-year-old said.

Rana performed with real theatre actors in the film and he considers it one of the challenges of the film.

"Cinema and theatre are like two different sides of a coin. The biggest challenge was to mix them and produce something entertaining, yet unique. We learned from each other in the process," he said.

What were the other challenges?

"We weren't allowed to shoot in real mining locations. Therefore, we had to recreate mining sets. We had to recreate many sets. To recreate something near to the original was challenging," he said.

The film is being directed by Krish.

"Krish and I have been friends much before the start of the project. Working with him was never like working in a film. It was more like two close friends coming together and breathing life into an idea," he said.

"Krishnam Vande Jagatgurum", which releases Nov 9, has Nayantara, Brahmanandam and Kota Srinivasa Rao. It was shot in 80 days, mostly in Hyderabad.

The film was supposed to be simultaneously shot in Tamil as "Ongaram", and Rana said: "We will work on the Tamil version later. It will more or less be a remake of KVJ. We couldn't afford to shoot simultaneously because of time."