Khal Drogo of Game Of Thrones was the initial choice for Bhallaladeva: Rana Daggubati

Rana Daggubati is an household name all over India courtesy the massive success of the Baahubali series. The impact that his character Bhallala Deva had in the viewers’ mind was huge and made him popular all acorss the nation. Rana fitted the bill perfectly for the gigantic and masculine Bhallala Deva who locked horns with the equally towering Baahuabli, played by Prabhas. But not many know that Rana was not the initial choice to play Bhallala Deva’s role.

Rana Daggubati himself revealed this in a recent interview to TOI. The makers initially wanted to cast Jason Momoa, who is famous for his role of Khal Drogo in the Game of Thrones series. Rana is quoted saying,

”It just sounded so nice that I was supposed to play the role Khal Drogo was to play. I told the film’s producer Shobhu Yarlaggada, ‘I ‘m Khal Drogo’s replacement. That’s a cool start. Let’s do it’.”

Rana worked for nearly five years for the Baahubali franchise. In between that he also acted in a few other films. He made a mark for himself in Tamil and Hindi with movies like Bangalore Natkal, Baby and The Ghazi Attack. Rana’s last release was Nene Raju Nene Mantri, a political thriller directed by Teja. The movie emerged as a commercial success with critics unanimously praising Rana’s perfomance in a grey shaded role.