Vijay Deverakonda and Rashmika Mandanna's first film together since their wedding has opened to a modest start at the box office. Their period action drama Ranabaali, which released on Friday, October 16, collected roughly $1.7 million worldwide on day one, according to industry tracker Sacnilk — below the opening numbers of Deverakonda's recent hits.
The Day-One Numbers
According to Sacnilk data reported by The Week and The Indian Express, Ranabaali ran across 2,515 shows on day one and earned:
- India net: approximately $974,000 (Rs 9.25 crore)
- India gross: approximately $1.13 million (Rs 10.75 crore)
- Overseas: approximately $569,000 to $606,000 (Rs 5.40 to 5.75 crore)
- Worldwide total: approximately $1.7 million (Rs 16.15 to 16.50 crore)
The film opened below Deverakonda's last release Kingdom, which earned about $1.9 million (Rs 18 crore) net in India on its opening day across 4,236 shows. It also trails Liger ($1.7 million net, $2.5 million worldwide on day one) and Dear Comrade ($1.25 million net), though it fared better than The Family Star ($606,000 net), the lowest point of his commercial run.
The Film
Directed by Rahul Sankrityan and produced by Mythri Movie Makers, Ranabaali is a period action drama set during the Madras famine of 1876 to 1878. Deverakonda plays Ranabaali, a warrior from the village of Singanamala in Rayalaseema who takes up arms against British rule, not as a freedom fighter with a national cause but as a man protecting his village from famine and colonial exploitation. Mandanna plays his wife Jayamma, who fights alongside him.
Hollywood actor Arnold Vosloo plays the colonial antagonist, British commissioner Sir Theodore Hector, a character based on the real Sir Richard Temple. The trailer spans the years 1854 to 1878 and shows the couple's courtship, marriage, and eventual rebellion.
Star Power Meets a Screen Squeeze
Ranabaali marks the third on-screen collaboration between Deverakonda and Mandanna after Geetha Govindam (2018) and Dear Comrade (2019), and their first theatrical release together since they married in February 2026. The film released in Telugu, Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, and Malayalam.
But the timing proved brutal. Jailer 2, Rajinikanth's blockbuster released on October 15, retained a dominant share of screens across South India on its second day, leaving Ranabaali with just 2,515 shows — far below the 4,236 shows Kingdom had. The film also opened to mixed reviews, and its period setting and serious subject matter may need stronger word of mouth to carry it through the weekend.
The takeaway: a $1.7 million opening is respectable but unremarkable for a star of Deverakonda's stature. The weekend hold, not day one, will decide whether Ranabaali recovers its ground against Rajinikanth's juggernaut.
Watch: the official Ranabaali trailer, showing Deverakonda and Mandanna's rebellion against British rule.
Music in this post's reel: Kevin MacLeod - Life of Riley (incompetech.com), licensed under CC BY 3.0