Bhola Shankar

Bhola Shankar is a 2023 Indian Telugu-language action film directed by Meher Ramesh. A remake of the 2015 Tamil film Vedalam, it stars Chiranjeevi as the titular character with Tamannaah Bhatia, Keerthy Suresh and Sushanth.

Released on 11 August 2023, Bhola Shankar was critically panned and underperformed at the box office, earning only ₹42.25 crore against a budget of ₹101 crore.

Plot
In Kolkata, Alex's crime syndicate kidnaps several girls. Using his brothers, Bretlee and Charles, a police informer, and a corrupt port official, Alex sells the girls to businessmen around the world. When a CBI officer raids the port, Alex kills the officer.

Meanwhile, Shankar and his sister, Mahalakshmi "Maha", move to Kolkata. Shankar makes a good impression on the colony folk after he saves many children from electrocution. After settling down in an apartment, Shankar enrolls Maha in an arts college. Shankar is also hired by a taxi company owned by Vamsi.

Shankar's first passenger is Lasya, an unimpressive lawyer who lost every case she undertook. Desperate for a win, Lasya convinces Shankar to act as a mute witness. With the judge believing Shankar, it looks like Lasya is going to win her first case until the judge overhears Shankar speaking to Maha. With that judge suspends Lasya who vows vengeance on Shankar. When Shankar is driving Vamsi in his taxi, Lasya appears with her two subordinates to exact revenge, but Vamsi saves an innocent Shankar from Lasya. However, Shankar exposes Vamsi's adultery to Vamsi's wife, leading Vamsi to lose his company.

Meanwhile, the Kolkata DCP calls Shankar and other transportation workers to report any suspicious activity by Alex's crime syndicate. When Shankar sees four members of the list the DCP provided, he informs the DCP who orders a raid and saves three girls from being trafficked. With this setback, Bretlee orders his men to kidnap and kill Shankar. However, Shankar kills all of them and Bretlee, revealing that he had his man sent Shankar's photo via the police informer's phone. When he returns home, Shankar puts the gun he used in a locked drawer filled with guns and bullets.

During his routine work, Shankar picks up Srikar at the airport. At the same time, Maha calls Shankar to be picked up. When they reach Maha's college, Srikar is instantly smitten with Maha. When Shankar drops Srikar off to his home, it is revealed that Srikar is Lasya's brother and their parents are arranging Srikar's marriage. Srikar attempts to make Maha fall in love, but Maha rejects his advances; however, Shankar encourages Srikar to admit his love for her directly and respect her opinion. Then, Maha and Srikar's marriage is arranged. At the engagement ceremony, Shankar and Lasya meet, finally realizing that their siblings will marry each other. Lasya tries to stop the ceremony but is ignored. That's when Lasya and Vamsi team up. When seeing Maha and Srikar off on a river cruise, Lasya tricks Shankar into thinking someone kidnapped Maha. When Shankar realizes that this wasn't the case, Lasya revealed she got payback. When Shankar says that he can't bear anything bad happening to Maha, Lasya falls in love with him.

Meanwhile, Charles arrives in Kolkata to find out who killed his brother. When a nearby cruise ship records Shankar making a phone call before he kills Bretley, Charles uses that as a clue to finding out Shankar. Charles becomes obsessed with Shankar. While Maha and Srikar are jewelry shopping, Charles finds Shankar's location. However, they realize that Shankar is heading towards them. Shankar kills them all. Before killing Charles, Shankar taunts Alex in a call. Lasya witnesses Shankar killing Charles. Horrified, Lasya says she would not let her brother marry a killer's sister. That's when Shankar tells her that Maha isn't his sister.

Past: A year ago, Shankar was a ruthless thug-for-hire called Bhola in Hyderabad. When he is stabbed by his enemies, Maha comes to save him. Two months later, Maha and her friend approach Bhola when a builder threatens her parents into selling their home. When the builder promises Bhola more money, he dupes Maha's family, and he and his men start living in her house. Bhola gets annoyed when his men are involved with Maha's family's activities, mistaking them for antics. Maha's friends try to get the house documents back, but Bhola is always a step ahead of her. When Shankar needs Maha's signature for the transfer of the property, Shankar goes to Maha's college to pick her up. At the college, when Maha misses her bus, Alex's gang kidnaps her which Bhola notices. Bhola thrashes the men and rescues all the girls in the warehouse. Maha's parents' gratitude to him changes Shankar's heart. He goes to the builder and tells him that nothing should happen to their house. Meanwhile, Bretlee and Charles come to the warehouse where they find out that Maha stole their hardware containing all the details of their criminal activities. At night, Alex's gang enters Maha's house to retrieve the hard drive. They kill Maha's parents and stab Maha who loses her memory. When Bhola notices Maha, he admits to a hospital when he learns that she saved him a few months ago. With a change of heart, Shankar decides to look after Maha as her brother when the doctor tells him that Maha lost her memory.

Present: In the present, Shankar tells Lasya that he came to Kolkata to kill Alex and his gang. He also agreed to Maha and Srikar's marriage as Maha would be safe even if Shankar gets killed during his mission. Lasya promises him that the wedding will go on.

Meanwhile, Alex arrives in Kolkata to find out who killed his brothers. With such a risky mission, the port officer is killed when he refuses to help Alex. The police informer tells Alex that one of the men was in a hospital trying to recuperate. When that man wakes up, the police informer goes to Maha's college to get someone to sketch Shankar's features. When Maha realizes that she drew Shankar, she tries to make Alex think that she drew Shankar by accident as Shankar called her. Shankar arrives in the nick of time to save Maha. When Alex's men try to kill Shankar, the police informer threatens Alex. When leaving, Shankar warns Alex. It is revealed that Shankar threatened the police informer's wife to which Alex kills the police informer.

When the family is shopping, Alex taunts Shankar by saying he will kidnap Maha in front of him. When Lasya realizes that Maha is missing, Shankar goes to Alex's warehouse. Alex tricks Shankar into believing Maha is dead to make him understand Alex's pain. Alex reveals that Maha was in the trunk of Shankar's car. When Maha wakes up in the car going to the port, she calls Shankar who advises her to keep him note of all the landmarks and pull the wires to know where she is. At the port, Shankar tries to save Maha but Alex injures them both. Maha regains her memory back. Alex taunts Shankar again saying that he would start his business all over again with Maha. That's when a procession stops Alex's plan. When Maha calls out for Bhola, Shankar thrashes all the men. Maha urges Shankar to kill Alex. She throws a trident which Shankar uses to kill Alex. Eventually, Alex gets killed by Shankar, thereby completing his revenge.

The film ends with DCP announcing to press reporters that all the details of Alex's syndicate have been revealed and all the girls trafficked have been returned safely home.

Production
Initially, Sai Pallavi was approached for Chiranjeevi's sister's role in the film but she rejected the offer as she was not interested in remakes. Keerthy Suresh was cast in her place. Music director Mani Sharma's son Mahati Swara Sagar was signed onto this film as the composer. Tamannaah Bhatia is cast opposite Chiranjeevi in their second collaboration after Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy (2019). An official launch was held on 11 November 2021. They started filming on 15 November 2021 and finished in May 2023.

Music
The music is composed by Mahati Swara Sagar. Lyrics are written by Ramajogayya Sastry, Sri Mani, and Kasarala Shyam. The first single titled "Bholaa Mania" was released on 4 June 2023. The second single titled "Jam Jam Jajjanaka" was released on 11 July 2023. The third single titled "Milky Beauty" was released on 21 July 2023. The fourth single titled "Rage of Bhola" was released on 5 August 2023. The fifth single titled "Kottara Kottu Teenumaaru" was released on 7 August 2023.

Theatrical
Bhola Shankar was theatrically released on 11 August 2023.

Home media
The digital rights of the film were acquired by Netflix. The film was premiered on Netflix from 15 September 2023.

Reception
Bhola Shankar was panned by critics. Neeshita Nyayapati of The Times of India gave the film 2 out of 5 stars and wrote "Bholaa Shankar suffers because the shift between the various portions of the film is jarring, not to mention, the writing needed a deft hand. Not even Chiranjeevi and Keerthy are enough to save the day." Janani K of India Today gave the film 2 out of 5 stars and wrote "Bholaa Shankar is a remake that no one asked for or a remake that could have had a better adaptation. If only." Abhilasha Cherukuri of Cinema Express rated the film 1.5 out of 5 stars and termed the film as "hollow and distasteful homage to the mass legacy of Chiranjeevi". Raisa Nasreen of Zoom TV gave the film 1.5 out of 5 stars and wrote "A remake of the Tamil film Vedalam, and directed by Meher Ramesh, Bhola Shankar has been altered to suit the sentiments of the Telugu audience."

Box office
On its opening day, Bholaa Shankar collected approximately ₹20 crore worldwide and went on to gross ₹42.25 crore during its theatrical run. It is considered one of the less successful films in Chiranjeevi's filmography.