When in Mumbai, be a Mumbaiyya — this is one adage Rana Daggubati would do well to adhere to. Acting opposite the combined acting might of Amitabh Bachchan and Sanjay Dutt in Department, Rana’s immediate task is to lose his Hyderabadi accent. “Since Department is based out of Mumbai, and Rana isn’t playing a South Indian in it, Ram Gopal Varma wants his dialogue delivery, pronunciation and accent just right,” says a source connected to the film.
Rana’s first Bollywood film Dum Maaro Dum had his voice being dubbed. But after the makers came in for criticism owing to the soft voice not matching Rana’s burly physique, he decided to be more careful with Department.
“Not only does Rana need to work on his accent, but his Hindi also has a fair bit of Urdu in it, much unlike the way people in Mumbai speak. There is a lot of hard work for Rana, but he’s insistent on speaking his own lines,” the source adds.