Indian war stories are classified: Rana Daggubati

Hollywood is notorious for fictionalising true events, such as the case with Pearl Harbour. But the problem with doing that in India is that most war-based incidents are classified, leaving moviemakers stumped while recreating the true stories itself. Which is what prompted Rana Daggubati to ensure that his research for the upcoming film Ghazi — based on the sinking of a submarine during the 1971 war with Pakistan — was solid.

“I called (director) Sankalp after learning about the story from a common friend. We both discussed about it and he did a lot of research. I read many articles and books related to this war incident and then we decided to come out with a big film,” says Rana, and adds that 70 per cent of the story takes pace within the submarine.”

“There, people know about such cases, but in India, most of such cases are classified and the public never knows about it,” he says. “This incident happened in 1971 in Vizag. I tried to meet people who could tell about it, but couldn’t find any living person. I met many Navy officers to prepare for my role in the film,” he says. The film’s set is erected in a swimming pool near Tank Bund. Sankalp, for whom this is his debut, initially wanted Ghazi as a low-budget movie.

Rana will next be producing a movie along with Akshay Kumar. “Pilla Zamindar director Ashok will helm the film, which will also feature a lot of theatre artistes,” he says. The plan to co-produce a movie with Akshay was born during the shoot of Baby. “Actually, it’s a Marathi film and Akshay wanted to remake it in Hindi, but somehow it got postponed and together, we decided to produce it in Telugu,” he says, adding that they will not stop with just this film.