Rana Daggubati interview: On ‘Solo Leveling’ and the untapped multilingual treasure trove of anime

Day 1 at Comic Con Delhi 2024
| Photo Credit:
Vishnoo Jotshi

“When it comes to Japanese influence, my first memory has to be Kurosawa — Ran and all those classics,” he says without hesitation. “There’s a slice of him in every filmmaker.” Kurosawa was his gateway, followed by a steady binge of Japanese gangster films. Much later, anime and manga entered the scene. He names One Piece and Berserk as favorites but admits he was a late bloomer. “I grew up on Indian comics — Amar Chitra Katha, Phantom, Mandrake, and Tinkle. Manga and anime only came into focus after a trip to Japan during Baahubali promotions. Comic Con there was eye-opening.”

The trip was indeed transformative. It not only deepened his appreciation for the medium but also planted the seeds for his work in Solo Leveling. “Once you discover these things late in life, they start influencing the way you approach storytelling,” he reflects. Storytelling, more than fandom, as well as the surprisingly symbiotic relationship between anime and Indian cinema, is what seems to drive Rana’s foray into the art-form.

Voicing the icy villain in Solo Leveling started to feel a little more than another gig. It was a chance to immerse himself in a craft that is just as revered in his homeland, as it in its country of origin. “Japanese voice actors are like cult heroes,” he notes. “I watched bits of the anime but wanted to bring my own thing to it. It’s about capturing the ethos of the character, not mimicking someone else’s performance. The Japanese actors set the rhythm; my job was to localise it without losing that essence.”

Barca the Ice Elf in a still from ‘Solo Leveling ReAwakening’
| Photo Credit:
Crunchyroll

Rana found himself channeling influences from unexpected places, including the late great  James Earl Jones. “More than Darth Vader, it was Mufasa,” he clarifies. “I think that was a huge influence on my life and during voice training and it’s sad that we won’t get to hear him in more life.”

And then there was the small matter of multilingual dubs — Telugu, Tamil, and Hindi. “Personally, I wasn’t very confident, but the Crunchyroll team was, so I continued to dub in all languages” he says. “If any of the three (especially Hindi) have terrible diction, just blame Crunchyroll for trusting me” he laughs.

Once relegated to the basement of Indian pop culture, anime is now riding a fresh wave of mainstream enthusiasm. Between streaming platforms like Crunchyroll, theatrical releases, and thriving conventions like the one we’re sitting in, the medium has finally breached its niche beginnings. But can it leap over Bong Joon-ho’s infamous “one-inch barrier” of subtitles and reach a truly mass audience in India?

Rana doesn’t seem worried. “If a story is strong enough, it doesn’t need help crossing borders,” he says with conviction. As one of Tollywood’s most prominent voices, he feels convinced that India’s already primed for that kind of storytelling. “We’re all functions in that ecosystem, we’re just little tools to take it forward one inch at a time. Using a familiar voice like mine in Telugu helps connect with an otherwise inaccessible audience, and I think that’s beautiful.”

Rana Daggubati in the dubbing studio for ‘Solo Leveling ReAwakening’
| Photo Credit:
Crunchyroll

What fascinates him most about anime is its tonal elasticity. “It’s the only art form I’ve seen that can swing from extreme gore to deeply emotional storytelling in the blink of an eye,” he marvels.

Rana’s career, too, mirrors this kind of versatility. From the pan-Indian triumph of Baahubali to distributing Payal Kapadia’s French-produced, Malayalam-Hindi All We Imagine As Light and now dubbing a Korean-Japanese adaptation in three different languages; he seems to thrive on cultural cross-pollination. “It’s not about consciously choosing multilingual projects,” he says. “It’s about telling good stories to the widest audience possible. Whether it’s dubbing, subtitling, or reimagining a story for a new culture, that’s part of the job. In India, we grow up juggling languages, so this feels natural.”

This atmosphere extends to his hopes for anime’s growth in India. “We need today’s anime fans to become tomorrow’s creators,” he says. “Like Japan, we have this ancient storytelling tradition that’s waiting to be reimagined across a variety of formats.”

A group of cosplayers pose at the Crunchyroll arena at Comic Con Delhi 2024
| Photo Credit:
Vishnoo Jotshi

When pressed for an Indian comic he’d love to see adapted, his response is immediate: Amar Chitra Katha. “The entire library! Those stories have resonated with generations, but they’ve never been translated into other mediums.”

As our conversation winds down, I ask for his anime recommendations. “I’m still no expert,” he admits, before flipping the script in a way that would send a chill down the spine of any self-respecting weeb put on the spot. “Why don’t you give me yours?”

Caught in the headlights, I scramble to deliver and a quick gesture to my trusty straw hat buys me the time to rattle off a list beyond One Piece: Attack on Titan, Vinland Saga, and Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End. He nods, thoughtfully. “Done.”

The thought of Bhallaladeva kicking back to binge-watch the whimsical escapades of a sleepy little elf is, in its own way, delightfully disarming.

Solo Leveling ReAwakening is currently running in theatres. The upcoming second season of Solo Leveling is set to premiere exclusively on Crunchyroll in January 2025