Bangarraju

Bangarraju is a 2022 Telugu fantasy action comedy directed by Kalyan Krishna (Kurasala) and produced by Annapurna Studios and Zee Studios, with Nagarjuna as producer. A sequel to Soggade Chinni Nayana (2016), it stars Nagarjuna, reprising his role as the flamboyant Bangarraju, and his son Naga Chaitanya as Bangarraju’s grandson, with Ramya Krishna and Krithi Shetty. Anup Rubens composed the music. Released on 14 January 2022 for Sankranti, it received mixed reviews but was a commercial success.

What the story is about

The spirit of Bangarraju, the village charmer of the first film, has been promoted to heaven for his good deeds on earth. Back in the village, his grandson, also called Bangarraju, has grown up exactly like him, a flirt who is always at odds with Naga Lakshmi, the cousin he was promised to as a child and who is now running to become the village sarpanch. When Bangarraju’s wife Satyabhama also arrives in the afterlife, the couple win permission from Yama and Indra to return to earth and set things right: bring the youngsters together and deal with the dangers gathering around the family. The comedy comes from the old couple’s ghostly interventions.

Cast

• Nagarjuna as Bangarraju Sr. and his son Ramu
• Naga Chaitanya as Bangarraju Jr.
• Ramya Krishna as Satyabhama
• Krithi Shetty as Naga Lakshmi
• Rao Ramesh, Sampath Raj, Brahmaji and Vennela Kishore in supporting roles; Naga Babu as Yama and Ravi Prakash as Indra
• Faria Abdullah and Daksha Nagarkar in special songs

How it was made

After the success of Soggade Chinni Nayana and its Bangarraju character, Nagarjuna announced a sequel with Kurasala returning as director, who said the new film has a fresh storyline that stands on its own. Plans to also cast Akhil Akkineni did not work out because of scheduling. In March 2021, Nagarjuna said he was aiming for a Sankranti 2022 release. The film was launched in Hyderabad on 20 August 2021, shooting began on 25 August at Ramoji Film City with a schedule in Mysore, and filming wrapped on 23 December 2021. J. Yuvaraj was the cinematographer.

Music

Anup Rubens, who scored the first film, returned for the songs and score, with music rights held by Zee Music.

Release and box office

Bangarraju opened on 14 January 2022. News18 Telugu reported a first-day worldwide gross of ₹15.35 crore with a distributors’ share of ₹9.36 crore, and The Indian Express reported about ₹53 crore over the opening weekend. Sakshi called it the Sankranti box-office winner. Wikipedia’s article cites different final totals, so we do not give one.

What critics said

Murali Krishna CH of Cinema Express called it a “perfect follow-up” to its predecessor with “hilarious one-liners”, and Sakshi’s Anji Shetty praised the father-son pairing and the climax. Neeshita Nyayapati of The Times of India called it “old wine in a new bottle”, liking the music and visuals but not the weak VFX. Sangeetha Devi Dundoo of The Hindu described “a passable festive entertainer”, and Manoj Kumar R of The Indian Express was strongly critical.

Where to watch Bangarraju

We do not have a confirmed streaming platform for Bangarraju on file. The OTT details on this page will be updated when a platform’s own listing confirms it.

Sources: the Wikipedia article on Bangarraju and the reviews and reports it cites, linked above; Wikidata; our own cast and crew records.