Vijay Deverakonda's Ranabaali: The Legend of the Cursed Land is rumouredly inspired by a Telugu novel. The pan-India project, directed by Rahul Sankrityan and set in 1854–1878 Rayalaseema during British rule, shares thematic similarities with a novel named "The Cursed Land: Sapthabhoomi I - The Untold Story of South India" by Bandi Narayana Swamy.
Themes like drought, famine, poverty, factional violence, and social oppression under feudal rulers like the Hande kings, as well as later influences from the Nizam and British colonial powers, are portrayed in the semi-fictional book. There are shocking scenes involving the sale of young girls by impoverished parents. In Shyam Singha Roy, Sankrityan villainized a Bengali temple priest. Incidentally, this novel, too, has a similar theme. It's likely that Ranabaali will villainize exploitative priests.
The film might be set in Anantapur. And we are going to see Vijay speak in the Seema accent in Ranabaali, which hits the cinemas on September 11th. Produced by Mythri Movie Makers, the film co-stars Rashmika Mandanna and has music by the Ajay-Atul duo.
