Bhai (transl. Brother) is a 2013 Indian Telugu-language action comedy film, produced by Nagarjuna Akkineni under Annapurna Studios and directed by Veerabhadram Chowdary in association with Reliance Entertainment. It stars Nagarjuna Akkineni and Richa Gangopadhyay, with music composed by Devi Sri Prasad. This remains the final Telugu film of Gangopadhyay as of May 2026.
Contents
Plot
David, a Hong Kong-based don, depends heavily on his most skilled and trusted enforcer, Bhai, for day-to-day operations, much to the resentment of David's sons, James and Tony.
David sends Bhai to Hyderabad to eliminate an undercover police officer who is disrupting the mafia operations in the city. In due course, Bhai encounters Radhika, a horticulturist who falls in love with him. However, Bhai never accepts her proposal.
Bhai begins hunting down the undercover officer and uncovers his identity. The officer is Arjun, and Bhai decides to kill him. On the day of the trial, Bhai discovers that Arjun is his brother after seeing his father, Raghava, with him. He abandons the plan and tries to leave, but a video of Bhai aiming a gun at Arjun is recorded without his knowledge. However, Arjun is attacked by several disguised armed men, and he kills all of them. Much to Bhai's shock, one of the deceased is Tony, who had travelled to India on James's suggestion in order to kill Arjun and gain David's appreciation. David is devastated after learning the truth and becomes determined to kill Arjun.
Bhai's associate, Munna, questions him about his strange behaviour at the murder scene. Bhai then narrates his past to Munna. Bhai, originally named Vijay, is Raghava's son and lives in a village near Warangal. His father is highly respected in the village, while Venkat Reddy is his rival. Vijay spends most of his time with his siblings, Arjun and Geetha.
The annual temple festival becomes a point of conflict between Raghava and Venkat Reddy, as Raghava is organising the event while Venkat Reddy strongly opposes it. Venkat Reddy sends his son to set fire to the festival. Raghava catches him in the act and locks him in a room. The boy dies due to an accidental injury caused by Raghava, who is unaware of it. Vijay takes the blame and is arrested in order to protect his father's reputation. After returning from prison, Vijay assaults Venkat Reddy's men. Enraged by his actions, Raghava expels Vijay from the house.
Vijay reaches Hyderabad, and the rest of his life up to that point revolves around working in David's mafia under the name Bhai. Bhai, along with his henchmen and Munna, attempts to protect Bhai's family from David and James. Bhai meets Geetha, now a software professional, who is set to marry Sandeep, a resident of the United States. After revealing his identity to his sister, Bhai arrives at her home with his henchmen disguised as wedding planners at Geetha's request, so that he can play a major role in her marriage celebrations. Radhika also joins the team as a florist, and Bhai is unable to avoid her despite his wishes.
Meanwhile, Bhai bonds with his family members; only his paternal uncle and Geetha know his true identity as Vijay. To Raghava's shock, on the wedding day, Venkat Reddy telephones him and reveals that Sandeep is his foster son and that he will not attend the wedding because he has been placed under house arrest. Bhai rescues Sandeep, and his courage leads Venkat Reddy to reconcile with Raghava, allowing the wedding plans to proceed successfully.
To avoid interference from David and James, Bhai and Munna arrange for James to be kidnapped by their henchmen, who pose as plain-clothes police officers. They beat him, but James eventually escapes from their custody. As James and David head to the airport to flee back to Hong Kong, they recognise the leader of the gang that assaulted James. Following the suicides of both the gang leader and Munna, David learns about Bhai's schemes against them since Tony's murder.
After watching the recording of Bhai aiming a gun at him, Arjun attempts to arrest him. Bhai cleverly manages to escape and attends his sister's wedding as she wished. After Arjun is suspended and kidnapped by James, Bhai pretends to surrender to the police, only to confront them later. He spares their lives and escapes with Arjun to Raghava's house. Raghava, having learnt the truth about the past from Bhai's paternal uncle, reconciles with him. The film ends with Bhai accepting Radhika's love at the suggestion of Raghava and the rest of the family.
Production
Brazilian model and actress Nathalia Kaur will be shaked a leg with Nagarjuna in this film. Hamsa Nandini shared screen space with Nagarjuna in a special song for this film. Sekhar Kammula's Life Is Beautiful fame Zara Shah got the chance to work with Nagarjuna in this film.
Few sequences of this film was shot in Predjama castle.
Music
The music was composed by Devi Sri Prasad. Music was released on 14 October 2013 through Aditya Music. The soundtrack consists of 5 songs which received positive talk.
Critical reception
Bhai received mixed to negative reviews from critics: The Hindu wrote "Bhai is an ordeal to sit through unless you're interested in punch lines" and "Nagarjuna is the silver lining in this mediocre fare".
apherald.com gave rating of 1.5 out of 5 for Bhai.
Box office
Bhai opened 80% – 100% occupancy on first day collected ₹ 85 million at the box office.