EXCLUSIVE! RC Pranav On Nagabandham's Biggest Editing Challenge: My First Cut Of Climax Was...

Nagabandham editor Exclusive Interview: Debut is always special, isn't it? As RC Pranav made a rocking feature film editing debut with Nagabandham, he earned praise from all corners for his amazing work. The Telugu action fantasy drama has been mounted on a lavish scale with a budget of around Rs 100 crore. As I watched the film, I had the urge to talk to the man behind the crisp editing.

In an exclusive conversation with Filmibeat Assistant Editor Abhishek Ranjit over a cup of coffee, RC Pranav got candid about the biggest editing challenge he faced while working on Nagabandham. The editor also shared the most challenging sequence that he worked on while completing the project.

Here are excerpts from the interview

1. Nagabandham marks your feature film editing debut, and it's a massive ₹100 crore fantasy action film. Did the scale of the project excite you more or intimidate you when you first came on board?

The first time I met the director and heard the story, I was definitely intimidated by the sheer scale of the project. It was unlike anything I had worked on before. But once we began shooting and I started editing each schedule, that feeling quickly turned into excitement. With every schedule, the director's vision became bigger and more ambitious, and that made the process incredibly rewarding. One of the biggest advantages of working in the South is the creative freedom editors are given. It genuinely felt like I was helping shape the film from the ground up, and bringing such large-scale visuals to life was an exciting experience.

2. You've worked on acclaimed projects like Gully Boy, 83, and several OTT films before this. How did those experiences prepare you for handling a fantasy epic like Nagabandham?

Working on different films taught me much more than just editing. It taught me how to collaborate with directors, producers, cinematographers, and every department involved in filmmaking. Those experiences helped me understand how to communicate creatively and extract exactly what I needed from each department while working on Nagabandham.

Personally, I don't differentiate between a big film and a small film. For me, it's always about the story and the emotions. Whether the budget is ₹10 crore or ₹100 crore, every scene still needs to convey the right emotion. Every project, every set of rushes, and every film adds to your experience, and that's what ultimately prepared me to handle a large fantasy film like Nagabandham.

3. Editing a fantasy action film is very different from editing a grounded drama. What were the biggest creative and technical challenges you faced while shaping Nagabandham?

As an editor, I believe you need to understand every genre. Whether it's romance, horror, thriller, drama, or fantasy, every genre has its own rhythm and pacing.

The biggest challenge in Nagabandham was handling the extensive VFX. During editing, many of the visuals simply didn't exist yet. For example, in the plane crash sequence, there was no eagle attacking the aircraft during the shoot only blue screens and a basic plane set. Along with the director, I had to decide exactly where the eagle would appear, when it would strike, where the fire would begin, and how every VFX element should be timed. Because VFX is both time-consuming and expensive, every frame matters.

Deciding how long each shot should stay on screen and ensuring the pacing felt exciting while leaving room for the VFX to work seamlessly was probably the biggest creative and technical challenge throughout the film.

4. Having edited more than 600 commercials across five languages, how has the fast-paced world of advertising influenced your storytelling approach in feature films?

Advertising has had a huge influence on the way I edit films. In advertising, you often receive hours of footage but have to communicate an entire story in just 20 or 30 seconds. That teaches you to be extremely precise and economical with your storytelling.
I carry the same mindset into feature films.

Every time I edit a scene, I ask myself whether it's serving the emotion or the story. If it isn't, I trim it. That approach helped tremendously while editing Nagabandham. The first cut was close to four and a half to five hours long, and my experience in advertising played a big role in shaping it into a much tighter, more engaging film.

5. You also edited the teaser and trailer of Nagabandham, both of which received a great response. How different is the mindset when editing promotional content versus the full-length feature?

Editing a trailer or teaser is a completely different challenge because your responsibility is to make audiences want to watch the film. In just two or three minutes, you have to create curiosity, establish the tone, and showcase the scale of the film without revealing too much.

For the teaser, we had only completed two shooting schedules, so we didn't have enough footage. I used rough AI-generated visuals to communicate certain ideas, and the director liked those ideas so much that he later shot some scenes inspired by that teaser. By the time I edited the trailer, we had all the footage, which allowed me to build a stronger narrative. We even used a few shots in the trailer that don't appear in the final film small creative decisions that help build excitement and intrigue.

6. Was there a particular sequence in Nagabandham that took significantly longer to perfect than others? What made it so challenging?

Definitely the climax and the interval sequence. The climax is packed with action and complex VFX, including giant serpents like Adi Seshudu. During editing, none of those visuals actually existed yet, so I had to imagine their scale, movement, and timing while cutting the scenes.

Another challenge was reducing the length. My first cut of the climax was almost an hour long, the interval sequence was around 30 minutes, and another major adventure sequence was nearly 40 minutes. Condensing those sequences into around 10 to 12 minutes while preserving the impact, tension, and emotion was one of the toughest parts of the entire film.

7. In a visual spectacle like Nagabandham, how do you ensure that emotional storytelling isn't overshadowed by action and VFX?

For me, emotional storytelling always begins with the script. If the writing is strong, the performances are honest, and the dialogues connect emotionally, the editor's job becomes much easier.

My responsibility is to decide how much time each emotional beat deserves and make sure those moments are not lost amidst the spectacle. While Nagabandham is primarily an action and VFX-driven film, it also carries emotional themes centred around Lord Shiva and the hero's family. Balancing those emotional moments with the film's visual scale was an important part of the editing process.

8. Fantasy films often involve extensive VFX work. How closely did you collaborate with the VFX and direction teams to achieve the film's final rhythm?

It was an extremely collaborative process. The director had a clear vision for every VFX sequence, and together we worked out how that vision would translate into the edit. I would decide the timing of each effect, how long every shot should stay on screen, and then communicate those requirements directly to the VFX team.

I was also involved in reviewing the quality of the VFX shots, suggesting transitions, and ensuring everything fit seamlessly into the film. For example, one sequence involving bats transitioning into the title card was something I conceptualised during editing and developed with the VFX team and the director.

In a film like Nagabandham, the editor, director, cinematographer, and VFX artists constantly work together. That collaboration is what ultimately gives the film its rhythm, scale, and visual impact.