There are some people who manage to be spoken and written about almost always, without quite knowing how and why. Actor Rana Daggubati seems to be one such person. “I have no clue why my personal life is always under speculation,” he states, adding, “I’ve never attempted to clarify anything being written. Yes, I do have an exciting life and I like it this way. But I sometimes wonder if it’s actually a curse to be a friendly human being?”

His second Hindi release after Dum Maaro Dum last year is Ram Gopal Varma’s Department. “It’s a classic police drama based at a time when the Mumbai mafia is at its peak and a separate department is being created to tackle the menace. I’m the new recruit while Sanjay Dutt is a senior officer in the force and Amitabh Bachchan plays a politician,” he informs.

Rana, who’s grown up on a healthy dose of films, confesses to have grown up watching films of Amitabh, Sanjay and Ramu. “I’ll know how the film fares once it releases on May 18 but I’ve definitely become a more knowledgeable actor after working on this one,” he quips.

Rana’s just two Hindi films old but he prefers to say, “I’ve done five films in two years. I’ve been working continuously for the last few months on three back-to-back projects. Once Department releases, there’s a Telugu film, Krishnam Vande Jagadgurum with Nayanthara and then, my first Tamil film with film-maker Selvaraghavan. Soon after, we start on my next Hindi film, a romantic thriller opposite Nathalia Kaur.”

While his role in Dum Maaro Dum won him plenty of accolades, Rana recollects the challenges he faced in playing DJ Joki. “He was a soft-hearted, romantic who’d lost all zest in life. It’s hard for me to play a powerless guy since I’m not like that. Shivnarayan in Department is more me a tough guy who prefers to take baddies head on. In fact, I’ve grown up like any other boy, high on Rocky and Rambo,” he states.

Rana is glad with the way the film industry in Mumbai has warmed up to him. “I keep shuttling between Hyderabad and Mumbai. I’ve got pretty bored of staying in a hotel room though it’s just one room,” he chuckles, adding, “I’d like to stay in my own place. I want my own postal address.”