Rana Daggubati and uncle Venkatesh to star in Netflix series
Netflix is churning out an Indian adaptation of the popular American crime drama series Ray Donovan. And, the show will star actor Rana Daggubati with his real-life uncle actor Venkatesh Daggubati in, what will be, their first long-form collaboration. Produced by Locomotive Global Inc., the web series has been titled Rana Naidu. Karan Anshuman and Suparn Verma will be co-directing the series. Here's more.
Announcing the venture, Rana wrote, "Always wanted to share the screen with my uncle the VICTORY V @VenkyMama and my dream is finally coming true. As much as I love him off-screen, in "Rana Naidu" we are going to be at each other's throats. #RanaNaidu, coming soon on Netflix." Venkatesh shared the news by posting the same picture on Twitter as well.
Always wanted to share the screen with my uncle the VICTORY V @VenkyMama and my dream is finally coming true. As much as I love him off screen, in “Rana Naidu” we are going to be at each other's throats. #RanaNaidu, coming soon on Netflix. pic.twitter.com/oCzjwOcIuF
— Rana Daggubati (@RanaDaggubati) September 22, 2021
Speaking about the project, the Baahubali actor told Variety, "It's lots of special firsts for me. Working with my uncle Venkatesh and the first with Netflix in long form storytelling that's completely different from what both of us have ever done in our careers." The Venky Mama star admitted he is "a huge fan of Ray Donovan," adding he couldn't wait to start work.
To give you an idea about what's in store, the original Showtime series, starring Liev Schreiber as the titular character, premiered back in 2013. Donovan was a "fixer" in Hollywood, who would fix quite literally any messy situation for his celebrity clients. Most likely Rana will play this role with Venkatesh taking up Donovan's father Mickey's character, originally played by Jon Voight.
Earlier, when Venkatesh teamed up with nephew Naga Chaitanya in Venky Mama, Rana had spoken up about not working with his uncle. "If my grandfather was here now, he would have scolded me as to why I couldn't do what they did," he had said at the film's promotional event. Notably, Venkatesh is Chaitanya's maternal uncle. We are glad their collaboration is finally happening!
The duo will come together years after Venkatesh appeared in his nephew's 2012 flick Krishnam Vande Jagadgurum in a cameo role. While Rana's Haathi Mere Saathi premiered on television on September 18, Venkatesh is shooting for F3 with Varun Tej, Tamannaah, and Mehreen Pirzada.
