Nani’s period action drama The Paradise begins streaming on Netflix on 22 October 2026, four weeks after its theatrical release on 24 September. Netflix South has announced that the film will be available in Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, Kannada and Malayalam, so the Kannada and Malayalam versions will reach audiences for the first time. The film is directed by Srikanth Odela, his second collaboration with Nani after Dasara, with music by Anirudh Ravichander. Nani plays Jadal, a tribal leader, in the slums of Secunderabad in the 1980s, and the cast includes Kayadu Lohar, Raghav Juyal, Mohan Babu and Sonali Kulkarni.
The argument that the film was a significant release is based on its scale and its opening. The budget is estimated at Rs 150 crore to Rs 200 crore, and shooting reportedly ran over 180 days instead of the planned 100. It earned about Rs 76.90 crore worldwide in its opening weekend and, according to reports, about Rs 173.41 crore in total, with India net of about Rs 120.79 crore by the third week. The Telugu version earned about Rs 108 crore net in India and the Hindi version about Rs 10.50 crore. Critics praised Nani’s performance and physical transformation, the atmosphere and the background score, and one report described the opening day as the biggest of his career. The film also gets a second chance on streaming in five languages, which is a much wider reach than its theatrical release in three.
The counter-argument is that the film is widely seen as a commercial underperformer. Reviews were mixed to negative: critics described the plot as a familiar revenge story and the second half drew criticism for slow pacing, a weak storyline and excessive violence. Collections fell sharply after the opening days, and distributors in Andhra Pradesh reportedly suffered losses. With an estimated budget of Rs 150 crore to Rs 200 crore, a gross of Rs 173.41 crore leaves little margin once theatre share, taxes and distribution costs are taken out. Sources conflict on the box office, with one saying the film failed to perform and another reporting the biggest opening of Nani’s career, and one low-detail report said that the streaming cut was 25 minutes shorter, which is not confirmed.
The release matters for the industry because it shows how a four-week window between cinema and streaming now works for large Telugu films. A film that has run its course in theatres moves to a platform where it can find an audience in other languages, and for a project that cost a great deal, streaming rights and a long tail of viewing are part of the economics. For Nani, the performance has been widely praised even though the film was not.
The Paradise goes to Netflix with strong praise for its lead and a disappointing record at the box office. The film opened in theatres on 24 September and reaches Netflix on 22 October, exactly four weeks later. The streaming numbers will show whether viewers in five languages are more generous than the audiences in theatres.