Dulquer Salmaan and Rana Daggubati on the Long Road to Making 'Kaantha': 'We Would Come So Close Every Time'
After years of delays and discussions, the actors look back on how 'Kaantha' finally came together and why Dulquer feared the role might slip away before it began.
It’s been years in the making, but Kaantha is finally releasing. Sitting down together, Dulquer Salmaan and Rana Daggubati spoke about the film’s long journey, one filled with excitement, endless meetings, and a fair share of delays.
“We used to keep saying, okay, this summer we’ll make this film,” says Dulquer. “And we would come so close every time. But then someone would get busy with another shoot, and it would slip away again.” Rana added, “You can’t just keep discussing. At some point, you've just got to make the film. Those six-hour meetings have to turn into something.”
For Dulquer, that waiting came with a measure of fear as well. “I shouldn’t have been so relaxed about it,” he admitted. “I kept worrying that if I didn’t show enough interest, they might go to someone else. I was genuinely greedy about wanting to do this role.”
His conviction grew after that first meeting with the team. “At first, I thought it might feel familiar — it’s set in the world of cinema, even from the same period,” he said. “But once I understood what they were trying to do, I realised it was something very original. I stopped being bothered by the similarities.”
What really hooked him was the drama in the script. “We all love drama,” he said. “It gives you so much to explore as an actor — to lose yourself, to just be one with the character, to take it as far as you can.” Rana nodded in agreement. “It was the nature of the story,” he said. “It was so new and different that we couldn’t rush it.”
Both Dulquer Salmaan and Rana Daggubati have had a packed year. Salmaan recently produced and appeared in Lokah: Chapter 1 – Chandra under his banner Wayfarer Films. Daggubati returned to Netflix with Rana Naidu Season 2 and has also stepped up as a producer on Ram Pothineni’s upcoming film, reuniting with the Baahubali team for another large-scale Telugu project.
Watch our full interview with Dulquer Salmaan and Rana Daggubati on our YouTube channel