Ramanaidu Daggubati, (pronounced [ˈɾaː.naː daɡːu.baː.ʈi]; born 14 December 1984)[2][3] known professionally as Rana Daggubati, is an Indian actor, film producer and a television personality who primarily works in Telugu cinema, in addition to Tamil and Hindi films.

In 2012, Rana gained prominence by starring in the hit Telugu film Krishnam Vande Jagadgurum.

In 2017, Rana later reprised his role as Bhallaladeva in Baahubali 2: The Conclusion, which became the highest grossing Indian film of all time.

Ramanaidu Daggubati[13] was born on 14 December 1984 in a Telugu family to film producer D. Suresh Babu in Madras (present-day Chennai), Tamil Nadu.

At Hyderabad Public School, he was classmates with Ram Charan, Sharwanand, Nikhil Siddharth, and Nag Ashwin.

[23] Rana's debut film as an actor in Telugu was Leader (2010), directed by Shekhar Kammula.

Rana made his Hindi debut with the film Dum Maaro Dum, alongside Bipasha Basu, Abhishek Bachchan and Prateik Babbar which released on 22 April 2011. where he received positive reviews for his performance and won the Zee Cine Award for Best Male Debut.The Times of India called it a "dashing debut".

[29] Taran Adarsh commented that "Much of the joy comes from watching Rana Daggubati infuse believability into his character.

In his next Telugu film, Nenu Naa Rakshasi (2011),[31] he played a professional killer Abhimanyu alongside Ileana D'Cruz, under Puri Jagannadh's direction[32] It was a box-office bomb.

[33][34] A reviewer of NDTV wrote that "Rana's attempt to prove himself as a commercial hero has not taken off and he should wait for another break.

"[37] Radhika Rajamani of Rediff.com, in her review of the film, praised Rana' performance but criticised the screenplay.

[38] His next film was Department, directed by Ram Gopal Varma, alongside Amitabh Bachchan and Sanjay Dutt.

[40][41] His last release of the year was Krishnam Vande Jagadgurum, directed by Krish, which became a box office success, also receiving critical acclaim.

[47] In July 2012, Rana signed do a "special appearance" in the film Arrambam, which his Tamil cinema debut.

Rana made cameo appearances in three films – Sundar C's Something Something, Ayan Mukerji's Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani[49] and Vishnuvardhan's Arrambam, with the latter being his Tamil debut.

[50] The same year, he joined two big-budget productions, Gunasekhar's Rudhramadevi[51] and S. S. Rajamouli's Baahubali: The Beginning, in which he is the lead antagonist.

In 2015, he starred in the Hindi film Baby, alongside Akshay Kumar and Taapsee Pannu.

[60] It is a 3D biographical action film based on the life of Rudrama Devi,[61] in which he played the role of Chalukya Veerabhadra.

[72][73] The film's plot is based on the mysterious sinking of PNS Ghazi during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, in which he played Lieutenant Commander Arjun Varma.

[75] Hindustan Times's Gautaman Bhaskaran wrote that "Daggubati is wonderfully restrained – a complete changeover from the kind of parts he has been playing so far".

[88] This film received some mixed reviews but Rana's acting and screen presence were praised.

Estimated to be made on a production budget of ₹180 crore, the film features Rana in the titular role of Hiranyakashipu.

[94] He announced his next film Kaadan (in Tamil; Aranya in Telugu; Haathi Mere Saathi in Hindi) on 14 December 2017, directed by Prabhu Solomon.

[96][97][98] In March 2018, he joined the production of two-part N. T. Rama Rao biographical film series.

[114][115] Owing to the COVID-19 pandemic in India, the release of Hindi version Haathi Mere Saathi too was postponed.

[117][118][119] Haricharan Pudipeddi of Hindustan Times appreciated Rana's performance, calling it "one of his best till date.

The show has completed four seasons over a span of five years, hosting celebrities such as Vijay Deverakonda, S.S. Rajamouli, Nani, Kajal Aggarwal, Naga Chaitanya, Tamannaah, Rakul Preet Singh, Ram Pothineni, Navdeep, Nikhil Siddharth, and others.

[136] Set up as a studio style agency, Kwan South's divisions include talent management, casting, live performances and appearances, film packaging, production support- TV and Commercials, brand associations- endorsements, digital and film partnerships.

[138] Anthill Studio is a business accelerator program focused on technology startups in Media & Entertainment.

[139][non-primary source needed] The studio supports and mentors disruptive startups in leading-edge technologies such as Artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality and virtual reality (AR/VR), blockchain, visual effects (VFX), cloud rendering, machine learning (ML), internet of things (IoT) and big data and analytics.