Vijay Deverakonda and Rashmika Mandanna’s period action drama Ranabaali opened in theatres on Friday, 16 October 2026, with early estimates of about Rs 3.69 crore to Rs 3.87 crore net in India on its first day, according to India TV and Goodreturns. The figures are early live estimates and will change when the final numbers are compiled.
The estimates differ by source. India TV’s early figure was Rs 3.69 crore net and Rs 4.35 crore gross from 1,366 shows, of which 1,361 were in Telugu. Goodreturns gave Rs 3.87 crore net and Rs 4.57 crore gross from 1,392 shows, according to the summaries IndiaX24 reviewed. The difference between the two net figures is Rs 18 lakh, about 5 per cent, a calculation by IndiaX24, and it reflects the time of day at which each was taken.
Occupancy varied by language. The Telugu version had 52 per cent occupancy, the Tamil version 36 per cent and the Hindi version 8 per cent, according to Goodreturns. The film is therefore chiefly a Telugu release in terms of audiences, and the Hindi figure is low, which is IndiaX24’s reading of the percentages.
Advance sales were modest. The film earned Rs 5 crore in advance booking, according to a NewsBytes headline, and Koimoi headlines said it might fail to beat the opening of Vijay Deverakonda’s earlier film Liger and that its US advance sales had crossed 200,000 dollars including premieres, trailing Kingdom, according to the search results. IndiaX24 has not opened those articles and relies on the headlines for the comparisons only.
The film is directed by Rahul Sankrityan, who also wrote it with Pramod Tammineni, according to Goodreturns. Vijay Deverakonda plays the title role of Ranabaali and Rashmika Mandanna plays Jayamma. The cast also includes Arnold Vosloo as Sir Theodore Hector and Luke McGibney as Robert Multhus, according to the same report.
Reviews are mixed. Critics applauded the performances of the lead pair but were less impressed with the pace, the action and the music, according to India TV. A review summary calls the film a period action drama that shows sincere effort but delivers moderate impact, with a predictable second half and a lengthy runtime, according to the search results. Goodreturns quotes a reviewer saying that ‘the director sincerely tries to tell real stories/events set against a beaten to death British backdrop, but the dead slow screenplay and flat narration test your patience’.
Ratings from smaller review sites differ widely. 123Telugu gave 2.75 out of 5, Venky Reviews gave 2 out of 5 and OTT Global Reviews gave 3.25 out of 5, according to Goodreturns. The average of the three is 2.67, a calculation by IndiaX24, which indicates a middling reception though three sites are a very small sample.
The opening was a quiet one next to the weekend’s other releases. Jailer 2 earned Rs 59.70 crore net in India on its first day, as IndiaX24 has reported, so Ranabaali’s opening is about 6 per cent of that, a comparison by IndiaX24 that is not like for like because the films differ in scale and language. The film also opens against Prahaar and Nayyi Navelli, whose openings IndiaX24 compares in a separate article.
The film’s budget and runtime are not given in the reports reviewed. IndiaX24 will report on its first weekend.
Image: Actor Vijay Deverakonda (file photo). Photo by Sriram Kasyap Meduri, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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