Vijay Deverakonda’s Ranabaali Storms Netflix — Fans Say His Performance Deserves a National Award

Vijay Deverakonda’s period drama Ranabaali is enjoying a remarkable second innings on Netflix, trending on the platform just a day after it began streaming on November 13. The film, which also stars Rashmika Mandanna, is available in Telugu, Hindi, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam, and fans who missed it in cinemas — or want to relive it — are driving the conversation online. The loudest verdict doing the rounds is that Deverakonda’s performance deserves a National Award. Much of the praise centres on the film’s much-discussed God scene, with viewers describing goosebumps, ‘absolute cinema’ and a transformation that proves the actor ‘literally lived’ the role. Fans are also celebrating the chemistry between Deverakonda and Mandanna, who plays his wife Jayamma, calling the pair beautiful together and the film ‘an experience’ rather than just a watch. The streaming surge is a notable turnaround for a film that underperformed in theatres. Ranabaali opened on October 16 and finished a 28-day run with a worldwide gross of Rs 80.83 crore, according to trade estimates from Sacnilk — well short of its reported Rs 120 crore budget — after mixed reviews that praised the leads’ intensity but faulted the pacing and writing. Pinkvilla’s review, published on the day of the OTT premiere, struck the same balance, calling Deverakonda’s warrior turn the film’s spine even where the writing lets him down. Directed by Rahul Sankrityan and produced by Mythri Movie Makers, the film is set during the Madras famine of 1876–78, with Deverakonda playing folk warrior Singanamala Bobbili Ranabaali, who rises against British rule as famine tightens its grip on his people. The Netflix turnaround fits a familiar new pattern: theatrical flops finding their real audience at home. What makes Ranabaali’s case stand out is what viewers are choosing to celebrate — not the scale or the action, but a single performance and a single scene. Theatrical numbers measure opening weekends; streaming measures whether people still care a month later. On the first evidence, they do. Ranabaali is streaming now on Netflix.

Source: Filmverse