Television

Rana appeared in the television serial Swabhimaan, which followed by serials such as Farz, Sazish, Jax Kabhi, Waris. He anchored the TV show, Baazi Kiski. He also hosted Sarkaar Ki Duniya, a reality show which took place on Mango Island in Karwar, Karnataka. In 2010, he featured in the Star Plus show Kaali- Ek Agnipariksha, where he played the negative role of Thakral.

Films

Rana received recognition for his negative role in Dushman, where he played a cold blooded psychopathic killer. Throughout his career, he has predominantly played negative and supporting roles. He has won two Filmfare Awards for Best Villain for his performances in Dushman and Sangharsh.

Apart from featuring in Hindi films, he has appeared in Tamil, Telugu and Kannada language films.

In 2021, he won the Filmfare OTT Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Web Original film for his performance as a grief-stricken father in Pagglait.

Hindi films

Telugu films

• Venky (2004) as Yogendra Kumar Sharma^[9][10]
• Bangaram (2006) as Bhooma Reddy^[11][12]
• Okka Magadu (2008) as Namboodriyar^[13]
• Victory (2008) as MLA K. Devraj^[14]
• Balupu (2013) as Poorna^[15][16][17]
• Tadakha (2013) as Bagga^[18][19]
• Pataas (2015) as G.K.^[20][21]
• Courier Boy Kalyan (2015)^[22][23]
• Krishnashtami (2016)^[24][25]
• Nene Raju Nene Mantri (2017) as Subbarayudu^[26][27][28]
• Jai Simha (2018) as Thota Rami Reddy^[29][30][31]
• Saakshyam (2018) as Munuswamy's 2nd brother^[32][33][34]
• Viswamitra (2019) as A. Rana^[35][36]
• Kalki (2019) as Narsappa^[37]

Tamil films

• Vettai (2012) as Annachi^[38][39][40]
• Meaghamann (2014) as King Jothi^[41][42][43]
• Tamilselvanum Thaniyar Anjalum (2016) as Arun^[44]
• Motta Shiva Ketta Shiva (2017) as G.K^[45][46]
• Johnny (2018) as Ram^[47][48][49]
• Sangathamizhan (2019) as Kulandaivel^{[50][51][52][53]}

Kannada films

• Vishnu Vijaya (1993)
• Vishnu Sena (2005)^[54][55]
• Kshana Kshana (2007) as Rana^[56][57]
• Avatara Purusha (2022) as Darka

Marathi films

• Sankasur (2013)^[58][59]
• Yeda^[60][61]

Host

• Sarkaar Ki Duniya (2009)
• Baazi Kiski (2001)
• Savdhaan India (2019 – present)

Television

• Tehkikaat (1994) Episode 21 to 23 A Mystery Behind Sleep Walking Disorder as Shyam
• Swabhimaan (1995) as Tyagi
• Aahat (1995) Episode 1 The Closed Room, Episode 12 to 15 Explosion as Avinash
• X-Zone (1998-2000) Episode 47
• Saturday Suspense (1997-1999) as Inspector Raghuraj
• Waris (1999)
• Farz (2001)
• Kaali- Ek Agnipariksha (2010)
• Saazish
• Kabhi Kabhi
• Dhundh
• Apradhi Kaun? as Inspector Gaurav Gambhir
• Chhatrasal (2021) as Aurangzeb
• Aranyak (2021) as Mahadev Dogra
• The Great Indian Murder (2022) as Jagganath Rai
• Khakee: The Bihar Chapter (2022) as IG Mukteshwar Chaubey IPS