Released · Telugu film · 2018
Bhagmati
భాగమతి
Bhagmati release date: 26 February 2018 (theatres). Directed by G. Ashok; starring Anushka Shetty, Jayaram and Dhanraj.
- Film release
- 26 February 2018 · All 2018 films
- Director
- G. Ashok
- Music
- S. Thaman
- Production
- UV Creations
- Writing credits
- G. Ashok
- Runtime
- 135 min
- Language
- Telugu
OTT release
No streaming platform is on file for this film.
Film release: 26 February 2018 · all 2018 Telugu films.
Source: the film’s Wikipedia article, checked 25 September 2026. It does not name a streaming platform or date; this page says so rather than guessing.
Bhaagamathie is a 2018 Indian horror thriller written and directed by G. Ashok. Anushka Shetty plays the title role, with Unni Mukundan, Jayaram (in his Telugu debut), Murali Sharma and Asha Sarath in other key roles. Made in Telugu and shot at the same time in Tamil, it was released on 26 January 2018 and was a hit. According to the source, it grossed around ₹67.20 crore.
Story
A Home Minister in Hyderabad vows to resign if a string of stolen idols is not recovered, and his party high command plots to discredit him. The CBI’s Vaishnavi Natarajan and ACP Sampath set out to question Chanchala Reddy, a former district collector and the minister’s trusted aide, who is in jail for murdering her fiancé. To keep things quiet, they move her to Bhaagamathie bungalow, a crumbling house once ruled by a queen of that name and said to be haunted.
Development
Ashok, who had earlier made Pilla Zamindar and Sukumarudu, wrote the script in 2012 with Anushka Shetty in mind. She liked it but was committed to films including Baahubali, Rudhramadevi and Size Zero. Ashok chose to wait for her and kept refining the script. The makers denied reports that the film was about the historical queen Bhagmati and described it as a social drama.
Production
Principal photography began in Hyderabad in June 2016. The title draws on the Bagmati river and on Bhagi Nagara, a name linked to Hyderabad. Anushka lost 20 kilograms for her role as an IAS officer. UV Creations produced the Telugu version and Studio Green released the Tamil one, with a Malayalam dub released alongside.
Music
S. Thaman composed the music. The single “Mandaara”, sung by Shreya Ghoshal and featuring Anushka and Unni Mukundan, was released on 19 December 2016.
Reception and box office
Critics were largely positive. Firstpost and Bollywood Life gave it 3.5 out of 5, and 123Telugu called it an engaging thriller led from the front by Anushka. Hindustan Times called it a riveting thriller despite its flaws. The source gives different box-office figures, with ₹51.50 crore in the first week against the ₹67.20 crore total in its summary. With this film, Anushka became the first South Indian actress, and the second Indian actress after Sridevi, to lead a film to US$1 million at the US box office. It was remade in Hindi as Durgamati (2020).
Sources: Wikipedia and Wikidata.
Teaser from the official YouTube channel of UV Creations, published 20 Dec 2017.
Cast of Bhagmati (2018)
- Anushka Shetty as Chanchala/Bhaagamathie
- Jayaram as Eshwar Prasad
- Dhanraj
- Murali Sharma
- Thalaivasal Vijay
- Unni Mukundan as Shakthi
- Asha Sarath as Vaishnavi Reddy
- Prabhas Sreenu
Additional cast
Further acting credits recorded for this film; voice-only and dubbing credits are excluded.
Character names as listed on TMDB, checked 10 Oct 2026.
What critics said
Reviews cited in the article were positive about Anushka Shetty's performance and the thriller's twists, though some found the story familiar.
- Firstpost called it an impressive outing for the cast and crew that finds new ways to tell a haunted-house story.
- Bollywood Life recommended it for Anushka Shetty and for the story.
- 123Telugu called it an engaging thriller with good horror, though the story is familiar and the first half slow.
- Idlebrain.com said it tries to give something to everybody despite a complicated screenplay.
Box office: the article reports close to ₹50 crore at the worldwide box office.
Summarised by Tollywood Desk from the reception section of the Wikipedia article Bhaagamathie (revision 1376029828), which cites the reviews named above. Quotation marks show words quoted in that article; no ratings or scores are added here.
Source record: Q25302841 on Wikidata. Dates are those on record and can change; this is not a studio announcement. Spotted an error? Send a correction.