Rana Daggubati emphasises on the need for literature in films

Actor-producer Rana Daggubati says that there is a huge appetite for cinema, but very few people understand that if there is a need for cinema then there will also be a need for literature. And if literature is not taken as the base of films, then it would be “very difficult” to tell stories.

“If we look at the movie business 50 or 60 years ago, a majority of the content came from literature writers or scholars of that time. Today, that system is kind of breaking. There is need for more and more cinema, but very few people understand that if there is need for cinema, there is need for literature as well,” says the Baahubali: The Beginning (2015) star.

He adds, “So, unless we make literature as the base, storytelling will become very difficult.”

Several Hindi films have been remakes of south Indian films. OK Jaanu (2017) and Drishyam (2015) are a few of such examples. On this, the actor says, “India has advantages in this field. If it’s a good story made in Malayalam, we can make it in four other languages and a different set of audience will get to watch it for the first time. I can make a film in Hyderabad and remake it in Mumbai. It’s very important to tell good stories. Ultimately, language is only one functionality,” he says.

Citing an example, he adds, “I read Ramayana in a different language, you read it in another language. It doesn’t matter, it is still the same story.”

According to actor Rana Daggubati, unless we start taking literature as the base, storytelling in films will become very difficult