Released · Telugu film · 2021
Kaadan
అరణ్య
Kaadan release date: 26 March 2021 (theatres). Directed by Prabhu Solomon; starring Rana Daggubati, Vishnu Vishal and Pulkit Samrat.
- Film release
- 26 March 2021 · All 2021 films
- Director
- Prabhu Solomon
- Music
- Shantanu Moitra
- Production
- Colour Yellow Productions, Eros International
- Writing credits
- Prabhu Solomon
- Runtime
- 178 min
- Language
- Telugu
OTT release
No streaming platform is on file for this film.
Film release: 26 March 2021 · all 2021 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.
Kaadan (meaning “Forester”), released in Telugu as Aranya and in Hindi as Haathi Mere Saathi, is a 2021 action-adventure film written and directed by Prabhu Solomon and produced by Eros International. Shot simultaneously in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi with slightly different casts, it stars Rana Daggubati, Vishnu Vishal in the Tamil and Telugu versions, Pulkit Samrat in the Hindi version, Shriya Pilgaonkar and Zoya Hussain. The Tamil and Telugu versions were released on 26 March 2021.
Story
The film is built around the deep bond between humans and animals. Rana Daggubati plays a man of the forest who stands up to protect the elephants and their home, a story Prabhu Solomon made to draw attention to the abuse of elephants and the loss of their habitat.
Cast
- Rana Daggubati in the title role
- Vishnu Vishal (Tamil and Telugu) and Pulkit Samrat (Hindi)
- Shriya Pilgaonkar, who replaced Kalki Koechlin, and Zoya Hussain
- Unnikrishnan, an elephant who had appeared in Kumki 2, in a pivotal role
Production and music
The film was announced on 13 December 2017. For the role, Rana Daggubati lost 15 kilograms by eating vegetarian food for six weeks. Shantanu Moitra composed the music, with lyrics by Vanamali for the Tamil and Telugu versions and Swanand Kirkire for the Hindi. It was also promoted as a comic strip, Little Bandev, in the children’s magazine Tinkle.
Release
Originally set for 2 April 2020, the release was postponed by the COVID-19 pandemic, then moved from Pongal 2021 to 26 March 2021 for the Tamil and Telugu versions. The Hindi version skipped theatres and premiered on Zee Cinema and Eros Now on 18 September 2021.
Reception
Reviews of Aranya were mixed: The Times of India called it an engaging ride with impressive visual effects and elephants, while The Hindu, Firstpost and The Indian Express felt Rana Daggubati largely carried a weak film, with praise for the cinematography and Resul Pookutty’s sound design. Sify called the Tamil version a noble attempt, and Hindustan Times rated Rana’s performance one of his best.
Sources: Wikipedia and Wikidata.
Cast of Kaadan (2021)
- Rana Daggubati as Kaadan
- Vishnu Vishal as Maaran
- Pulkit Samrat
- Zoya Hussain as Aruvi
- Shriya Pilgaonkar as Arundhati / Vaishnavi
- Paras Arora
- Sampath Ram
- Robo Shankar
Additional cast
Further acting credits recorded for this film; voice-only and dubbing credits are excluded.
Also in the cast (TMDB): Anant Mahadevan as Kurinjinathan/ Kanakamedala RajaGopalam /Jagannath Sevak.
Character names as listed on TMDB, checked 10 Oct 2026.
What critics said
Reviews cited in the article were mixed: critics praised Rana Daggubati's performance, the visuals and the depiction of the elephants, and many found the film preachy or insipid.
- The Times of India (Suhas Yelupantla) called it an “engaging ride”, praising the visual effects and the portrayal of the elephants.
- The Hindu (Sangeetha Devi Dundoo) felt Rana tries single-handedly to save the elephants and the film.
- Firstpost (Hemanth Kumar) found it educational but exceptionally insipid.
- The Indian Express (Manoj Kumar) called it sub-standard, redeemed by the cinematography, Resul Pookutty's sound design and Daggubati.
- Hindustan Times (Haricharan Pudipeddi) found it predictable but called Daggubati's performance one of his best.
- NDTV (Saibal Chatterjee) felt the message on deforestation was delivered in a high-pitched way, without nuance.
Summarised by Tollywood Desk from the reception section of the Wikipedia article Kaadan (revision 1364217558), which cites the reviews named above. Quotation marks show words quoted in that article; no ratings or scores are added here.
Source record: Q56452532 on Wikidata. Dates are those on record and can change; this is not a studio announcement. Spotted an error? Send a correction.