Rana Daggubati returned advances for films signed before health issue as he was no longer the ‘hot guy’

On Rhea Chakraborty's podcast, Chapter 2, Rana Daggubati got candid about how he realised Varun Tej looked more like him than he did after his health scare.

Following the success of Baahubali 2: The Conclusion, Rana Daggubati suffered from kidney failure and heart-related issues. He took a break from acting and underwent a transplant in the US before returning to India and resuming work. On Rhea Chakraborty’s podcast, Chapter 2, Rana spoke about how he returned advances for films he signed before his health issues, as he was no longer the ‘hot guy’.

Rana Daggubati has been candid about his health issue that required him to get surgeries in the US.

Rana Daggubati on returning advances for films

Rhea remarked on the podcast that Rana was always ‘this hot guy from Hyderabad’ who was working in Bollywood before his health scare. When asked how he coped with the change in his appearance, Rana remarked that his initial focus was solely on staying alive, above all else. But after a year of eating and living right in the US, he realised he no longer looked the same.

“I had a bunch of films I was supposed to do. There was a story of a big-a** wrestler and those kinds of films. So, I don’t look like any of those guys. I was returning advances back and all that was going on,” he said. He also spoke of how, while returning to India, an immigration officer called him King Bhallaladeva, which reminded him of who he was before he left India for the surgery.

“I remember there was this friend of mine who’s an actor, Varun Tej. He came to see me at some point. He’s a really big guy, too. Halfway through the conversation, that guy was looking more like me that I knew than me,” said Rana, adding, “I was like, why don’t I just patch on all these stories to this guy and get it done? It was strange, not recognising a version of you was confusing. I think if I weren’t an actor, I don’t know if I would’ve been able to cope with that.”

Recent work

Rana has been selective about his work after his health issue. In 2025, he starred in Kaantha with Dulquer Salmaan, Bhagyashri Borse and Samuthirakani. He also co-produced the project with Dulquer. He also played a cameo in the post-credit scene of Teja Sajja and Manchu Manoj’s Mirai.

This year, he had a cameo appearance in Parasakthi, starring Sivakarthikeyan, Ravi Mohan and Sreeleela. Apart from starring in Season 2 of the Netflix show, Rana Naidu, in 2025, he also hosted the Prime Video talk show The Rana Daggubati Show in 2024-25, apart from dubbing for Solo Leveling.