Meet Sekhar Kammula's Leader

The hype for Rana Daggubati's Telugu debut film Leader is slowly building up.

The publicity campaign seems to be a well-thought out strategy of dishing out things bit by bit.

First we had the teasers [the first teaser with just the silhouette was quite catchy], then the audio release, then the posters and finally the introduction of the young hero.

Now we just have to wait and see if Sekhar Kammula has a solid script backing Rana.

Since it's Rana's first movie and the fact that he hails from one of the premier film families of the Telugu industry [he is the son of producer and distributor Suresh Babu, grandson of producer and 'occasional' actor D Rama Naidu and the nephew of Telugu superstar Venkatesh], there is curiosity and expectation for his debut film.

The tall and lanky hero looks every inch the young leader as the title indicates.

Rana says, "When Sekhar narrated the story, I jumped at the chance as these are stories we don't get to hear very often. Plus, Sekhar came with the AVM banner."

So, for the young, budding actor with a wish-list of political movies (like Iruvar, Nayakan, Godfather), it was a boon which fell into his lap.

Leader, according to Rana, is a political film, a new genre for Sekhar who has made love stories and a movie on college life.

"It is a drama about power that sticks close to reality," says Rana.

Sekhar is said to have watched the elections on television and researched extensively to write this political drama on the emergence of a leader.

It's one of those films which has the title Leader but does not show fights or gore. Instead it shows heroism and how a leader emerges.

Rana, who has put in extensive efforts to become an actor, is lucky to have an author-backed role in a film by Sekhar Kammula.

The entrepreneur-turned-actor may be on new ground as far as acting is concerned but there's no doubt about his discipline and dedication.

He is certainly not new to films having set up a high-end technology unit Spirit Media and even produced a Telugu film Bommalatam: A Bellyful of Dreams.

Mickey J Meyer returns as music composer for Leader after Happy Days.

With a prestigious production house like AVM producing the film and Sekhar Kammula directing it, all eyes will definitley be on Rana.

Will he deliver? We will just have to wait till December 24 to find out.