The film The Paradise, a Srikanth Odela directorial featuring Nani, opened in theaters on September 24, 2026. The Telugu-language action drama grossed Rs 76.90 crore worldwide on its opening day, including Rs 54.90 crore domestically and Rs 22.00 crore overseas.
Set in 1980s Secunderabad, The Paradise depicts protagonist Jadal’s revolt against institutional oppression and a corrupt landlord called Shikanja Malik. Jadal belongs to the Savari tribe, which is historically marginalised and discriminated against.
Reviews of The Paradise have been negative. Critics found the film emotionally barren and said that it never establishes its characters or stakes satisfactorily. Nani’ performance and Anirudh Ravichander’ soundtrack cannot salvage this lazy and stale action entertainer, read a review on Pinkvilla.
In terms of character transformation, Nani impresses as Jadal. He’s grown braids and a beard, and he looks shredded. He’ committed to his role throughout. As far as Nani goes, The Indian Express wrote that if there’ one reason to watch Paradise, it’ Nani. He sticks to his guns when it matters.
He has conviction in his performance and during the film’ action sequences. However, the movie surrounding Nani doesn’ match his caliber. Even with his facial hair and muscles, Nani seems lost because Srikanth Odela hasn’ written a worthy script for him, said a critic from The Hindu.
Composer Anirudh Ravichander, one of Indian cinema’ most bankable musicians, scored the music and soundtrack. The Pinkvilla review said The background score is one of Anirudh Ravichander’ weakest in recent times.
The Paradise was awarded an A certificate by the Central Board of Film Certification after making 21 corrections to the film. Its runtime is 2 hours and 54 minutes.
Film critics have highlighted world-building as the most enjoyable aspect of Paradise. Pinkvilla mentioned that Srikanth Odela builds a distinct world that we get lost in. The world feels raw, grimy, and oppressive. The Hindu wrote The filmmakers have certainly put effort into building a parallel world whose locale is Secunderabad’ Paradise locality.
The Paradise frequently references landmarks like Paradise biryani and Liberty Cafe . However, critics panned the story for its clichéd tropes. According to Indian Express, Srikanth Odela’ screenplay depends on a formula that has been reused many times before. Filmfare wrote that while Paradise has fury and scope, it seldom feels fresh.
The film also doesn’ make Savari’ oppression feel real or exciting. The Hindu asked in their review, How could an entire tribe living in misery in the middle of Secunderabad go unnoticed?
Apart from Nani’s character, critics felt several others lacked depth. Their characters just don’ stick land include Kayadu Lohar, Sampoornesh Babu, Easwari Rao, Mohan Babu and Raghav Juyal said The Hindu. Sonali Kulkarni plays Jadal’ mother Shamakka. Reviewers felt that her portrayal of Shamakka provides some emotional heft to the narrative. For instance, Filmfare wrote that at the centre of all this violence is the relationship between Shamakka and Jadal.
Action scenes in The Paradise received praise and flak. Pinkvilla wrote that combat scenes have a raw and visceral punch to them. And the interval block comes with an explosion that you don’ see coming. Filmfare said about the interval block, You could have extended it by 2 minutes, and no one would have complained.
On the contrary, reviewers felt that violence in the second half was excessive. Said Variety India, watching the relentless brutality in the second half will leave you wondering why the makers frittered away what they had created so beautifully in the first hour.
Editing has been criticised by multiple reviewers. Pinkvilla found Navin Nooli’ work on the films editing wanting saying the film cuts from one scene to another abruptly. Moviekoop review stated that since the film is divided into chapters, not every chapter gives you enough continuity to stay connected with what’s going on.
The film also suffered from poor sound mixing, mentioned multiple reviews. Critics said that songs and action sequences were far too loud. Dialogue could not be heard most of the time during action sequences.
Actors Nani reacted to The Paradise receiving backlash and trolling from a section of film audiences. He took to social media to address the negative opinions. In Telugu, he wrote: నేను మీ రెస్పాన్సులు చూసిందాం. మీ అభినయాలు మరియు తెలుసుకున్నాం. మీరు ఇచ్చిన ప్రేమ ప్రతి హాస్యకరమైన ట్రాల్స్ తాను గ్రహించాను. చిత్రాన్ని ప్రేమించి మీరు నన్ను ఏమి ఆశ్వాసం ఇచ్చారో ఆ దృష్ట్యా నాకు ఖూబ్ సంతోషం. కానీ చిత్రంపై మీరు చూపినవాటికి నేను కూడా విమర్శ చేయగలిగే దానిని గుర్తించాను.
Translation: I have seen all your responses and opinions. I accept the love you gave and the funny trolls equally. I am very happy that the audience loved this film. At the same time, I take into consideration all the criticisms highlighted by the audience and reviewers.’
He added: If you have worked hard for something, you should be ready to face both praise and criticism. We did blood and sweat to make Paradise entertain you with a completely new experience. Now this film is in your hands, celebrate it, criticise it. Thank you so much for your love towards the film and me.
The Paradise marks Nani and Srikanth Odela’ second film together after Dasara in 2023. The film also reunites Nani with music composer Anirudh Ravichander after Jersey and Gang Leader.
Mohan Babu plays antagonist Shikanja Malik, while Raghav Juyal plays his son Vikram. Other members of the cast include Kayadu Lohar, Sonali Kulkarni and Sampoornesh Babu. Keerthy Suresh made a special appearance for the song Yeshanagula.
The film was released in Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, Bengali, Telugu, English, and Spanish languages . It was produced by Sudhakar Cherukuri under the SLV Cinemas banner .
As of September 25, 2026, The Paradise has registered the biggest opening day of Nani’s career, surpassing his previous films HIT: The Third Case and Dasara . The film’s domestic net collection reached Rs 46.25 crore, with an India gross of Rs 54.90 crore .