Signing a film like Haathi Mere Saathi is not a cup of tea for everyone. The adventure drama sought to give the actor nearly a year of his time, training with elephants, shooting in remote unheard locations, and even transforming their body and body language. But Rana Daggubati took up this challenge with a big smile as he had a great reason for it. Apart from being a part of a unique and great 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 directed 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.
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 many events and traces the story of a man (Rana Daggubati), who spends most of his life in the jungle, dedicated to protecting the ecosystem. The first 2021 trilingual film will be released as Aranya in Telegu and Kaadan in Tamil.
This will be a hat-trick for Rana as Hathi Mere Saathi is the third trilingual film, after the Baahubali series and The Ghazi Attack. Haathi Mere Saathi is produced by Eros Motion Pictures, a division of Eros STX Global Corporation and also stars Pulkit Samrat, Shriya Pilgaonkar and Zoya Hussain. The movie is set to hit the screen on 26 March 2021.