Rana Daggubati to produce Telugu series covering the Chalukya empire; missed opportunity for Sandalwood?

SonyLiv in a joint venture with SpiritMedia, a production house founded by actor, Rana Dagubatti himself, would be recreating the medieval power struggle the Chalukyas had with other kingdoms like the Cholas, Pandyas and Kakatiyas. The inspiration for this comes from historian cum writer Anirudh Kanisetti’s book with the same name. It was his first novel and had even won the book of the year under the non fiction category in the year 2022 in the Mumbai LitFest. 

The announcement was made during “Comic Con USA”. Representing SonyLiv, Saugata Mukherjee said, "Sony LIV believes in taking great Indian stories to audiences across the globe. And in keeping with that, we are embarking on the exciting journey of capturing the history of the glorious dynasties of southern India by adapting the celebrated book ‘Lords of the Deccan’ by Anirudh Kanisetti. We are elated that we are joining hands with Rana Daggubati on this journey. Together, we are excited about bringing these untold histories - the glorious dynasties, the majestic lands, the valiant kings, and their many wars - to our audiences from across the world."

Kannada twitter users were however left wondering if this is a missed opportunity for Sandalwood. One user commented, ”Tegirappa innu eppathara dashaakadali bhogatha jagathannu aalidhavara ithihaasavannu, Chalkuyaru, Rattaru yaake beku?” (Make more films about underworld dons of the 1970s, why is Chalukya empire’s history important?)

Another said, ”I’m sure that Kannada empire will be appropriated into the Telugu linguistic identity”. Let noble thoughts come from all directions? 

"Lords of the Deccan" is being made into a Telugu web series by Telugu actor Rana Daggubati.

I'm sure that Telugus will appropriate the Kannada empires to the Telugu linguistic identity, just like they did with the Karnāta Empire.

ಇದೆಲ್ಲದರ ನಡುವೆ ನಮ್ಮವರು ಗೆಣಸು ಕೀಳ್ತಾ ಇದಾರಾ? pic.twitter.com/mfbZSjyF6M

— ಸುನೀಲ್ sunil (@Stormborn_KA) July 19, 2023