Not Rana Daggubati, But This Aquaman Star Was First Choice To Play Bhallaladeva in Baahubali

In the recently released 73-minute Netflix documentary on Baahubali director S S Rajamouli, movie star Rana Daggubati’s revelation has gone viral again seven years after he first shared the anecdotes. In the documentary titled Modern Masters: S S Rajamouli, Rana Daggubati was again heard reiterating a juicy confession that he wasn’t the original choice to play Bhallaladeva in Baahubali.

One of the most prominent filmmakers in India, S S Rajamouli, was catapulted to worldwide fame after directing the blockbuster oan-India Baahubali film series. In the film, Prabhas played the protagonist, Amarendra Baahubali, and Rana Daggubati portrayed the antagonist, Bhallaladeva. While discussing the making of the movie in the recently released documentary, S S Rajamouli’s father, K Vijayendra Prasad, said his son was set on the idea of making a period film starring Telagu superstar Prabhas.

K Vijayendra Prasad said, “One day, he (Rajamouli) approached me, saying, ‘Father, I have decided to make a movie with Prabhas. It’ll be a period movie. I don’t want any supernatural things in this film. And I want some gray characters.”

Meanwhile, Rana Daggubati revealed that while Prabhas was the first choice to play the protagonist in the film, he was a runner-up to play the antagonist. Dagubatti said an Aquaman star was first in consideration to play Bhallaladeva in Baahubali before the producer approached him for the role.

Daggubati recalled, “The producer, Shobu Yarlagadda, came and just told me that it’s a period war-based kind of film and that they were looking at me playing the antagonist. I replied that I’d love to have a narration. I also asked him, ‘Who’s the actor you went to before you came to me?'”

Daggubati said the filmmakers reached out to Aquaman star Jason Momoa before offering the role to him. Daggubati recounted Shobu Yarlagadda saying, ‘We tried to reach Jason Momoa from Game Of Thrones’! I said, ‘Okay, that’s a good second number’!”

Rana Daggubati said his Baahubali character was no match to Jason Momoa’s Khal Drogo

This is not the first time Rana Daggubati has shared that anecdote. In 2017, while promoting Baahubali 2: The Conclusion, the actor first revealed that Shobu Yarlagadda wanted Game of Thrones star Jason Momoa to play the role of Bhallaladeva in the Baahubali films.

At the time, Rana Daggubati shared, “Not many people know this, but one of the actors whom Shobu (one of the producers of Baahubali) had in mind to play Bhallaladeva, was Jason Momoa, who played Khal Drogo from Game of Thrones. When Shobu told me about this, I thought, “Ah, great! It’s Khal Drogo and me, in that order.”

Rana Daggubati went on to add that his character is no match for Jason Momoa’s Khal Drogo, noting, “When you look at Khal Drogo, you know that he’s there in Game of Thrones for a specific purpose, and you don’t have to emotionally connect with him. But Bhallaladeva is a brother, he’s a son, and he’s wishful for his throne. He cares for his people. It also helps that Rajamouli is very clear about what he wants from the characters.”

It is unclear if the producers were able to connect with Jason Mamoa before he passed on the role.

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