Rana to play a Naxalite?

After essaying the role of a shrewd politician( Nene Raju Nene Mantri) and patriotic Naval officer (Ghazi), hotshot Rana is reportedly playing the role of a Naxalite in his upcoming film 'Virata Parvam 1992' which will go down as one of the best roles in his career.

"Rana would be playing a fiery revolutionary but with a golden heart," says an industry source and adds, "Rana is excited about the role since it fits into his scheme of things of exploring varied roles to avoid getting into an image-trap," he adds.

Being directed by Venu Udugula of 'Nadhi Needhi Oke Kadha', it boasts of multi-starcast with Sai Pallavi donning an author-backed role, while Tamil and Hindi actors are set to join the team.

"Few top Hindi and Tamil actors will be roped in to make it a much-awaited movie since the script demands multi-starcast with equal footage and importance," the source points out.

Rana who struck a chord with masses with 'Nene Raju Nene Mantri' is busy shooting for his upcoming film 'Haathi Mere Saathi' with director Prabhu Solomon. "He plays a rich business tycoon in the movie and eventually befriends an elephant. He realises that how human encroachment of forest land is shrinking the space for animals and going against the law of nature," the source adds.

He is also playing an upright army man in multilingual film '1945' which talks about Subhash Chandra Bose's army which decides to take on British regime in pre-Independence era," the source points out.

No doubt, Rana is changing the thinking pattern of Telugu stars. "He could have easily taken up lover boy or action-centric roles but he is trying to carve a niche for himself by dabbling with roles with substance. Besides expanding his market across India, he is also brushing up his acting skills," the source concludes. Nonetheless, Rana's next release will be 'Haathi Mere Saathi' to enthral pan-India viewers after 'Bahubali'.