‘Ranabaali’ opens to mixed reviews and ₹16.5 crore worldwide
publishers 28articles 110first reported 4 Oct, 15:43 UTCdeveloping since 5 Oct · 21 editions
Vijay Deverakonda and Rashmika Mandanna’s Telugu period drama *Ranabaali* opened in theatres on October 16 to mixed reviews and a reported worldwide first-day gross of ₹16.5 crore.
Directed by Rahul Sankrityan, the film is set during the Great Madras Famine of 1876-78. Deverakonda plays Singanamalla Bobbili Ranabaali, a fictional Rayalaseema chieftain inspired by three palegars, while Mandanna plays Jayamma. Deverakonda told *The Hindu* that the filmmakers researched historical gazettes and books and hoped the film would prompt discussion of the famine and British colonial policies. He said the production sought authenticity in its dialect, costumes, architecture and regional folk traditions, while taking some creative liberties.
According to figures from industry tracker Sacnilk cited by *The Indian Express*, the film earned ₹9.25 crore net and ₹10.75 crore gross in India on its opening day, plus ₹5.75 crore overseas. It played across 2,515 shows, fewer than Deverakonda’s recent releases *Kingdom* and *The Family Star*. The newspaper reported that competition from *Jailer 2* contributed to the lower screen count.
Following the lukewarm response, Deverakonda said at promotional events that *Ranabaali* ranked among his three proudest films and predicted it would be remembered as one of 2026’s best Telugu releases. He described it as an Indian mass-commercial treatment of films such as *Braveheart*, *Schindler’s List* and *Inglourious Basterds*. The film is Deverakonda and Mandanna’s third on-screen pairing, after *Geetha Govindam* and *Dear Comrade*.
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Written from 8 articles, 8 with the publisher's own text; 2 independent newsrooms once syndicated copies count as one; this version written 324 h after the record first saw the story; the editor kept it as written.
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