Bagheera

<p>A young Vedanth Prabhakar aspires to become a , but he later decides to become a police officer after his mother, before dying from cancer, tells him that ordinary people are real superheroes, especially police officers. Vedanth decides to become a police officer like his father Prabhakar. Years later, Vedanth completes his police training and gets posted in , where he meets Sneha, an independent , and develops feeling towards her. Sneha also falls for Vedanth and they get engaged. One day, Vedanth organizes a police operation and arrests several gangsters in the city, but they are released due to corrupt higher officials, and Vedanth is shocked to learn that his father is also on the take. One day, Vedanth witnesses a girl committing suicide by burning herself to death and learns that she was sexually assaulted. Due to this incident, Vedanth wears a superhero costume at night, calling himself , and brutally kills the culprits. Vedanth pretends to be a corrupt officer to avoid suspicion and starts eradicating criminals as Bagheera, with the help of Narayana, a . Meanwhile, several people are kidnapped and about to be secretly transported in a container at the by Kotian. Vedanth, after receiving missing complaints in the station, goes to the port area as Bagheera. Kotian and his gang spot Bagheera and a shootout ensues, where Bagheera manages to escape despite being shot. Vedanth seeks Sneha’s help, and after recovering, he goes to Kotian’s house and finds Kotian’s family dead, murdered by Kotian himself. Kotian reveals that he did not want them to get killed by Rana, a crime boss running an ring, and then commits suicide. Guru, a officer, is transferred to Mangalore by his brother Ramakanth Appayya, the director of the CBI, to exact revenge on Bagheera for killing his son Siddhi. Siddhi was a corrupt police officer and involved in killing Ranganna, an honest , which led Bagheera to kill Siddhi. Guru begins his investigation to uncover Bagheera’s identity. Vedanth, as Bagheera, appoints a hacker, a boy electronics expert, and a drunkard expert in making bombs and gadgets into providing him with a costume, weapons, a mask and a bike, and begins to destroy Rana’s organ trafficking business. Rana lays a trap for Bagheera, but Bagheera escapes and kills Rana’s men with the help of his gadgets. Vedanth seeks Sneha’s help again, and their love grows more stronger. Guru soon deduces Vedanth’s identity as Bagheera, but a mole in Guru’s team informs Rana about it. Rana kidnaps Sneha and gives Vedanth two choices: save Sneha from getting killed, or save a container containing several people from falling into the sea. With a heavy heart, Vedanth chooses to save the container, while Sneha gets brutally tortured and killed by Rana. Vedanth gets arrested by Guru and is transported to be . Rana loads the people into a train to . However, the officers release Vedanth, under Guru’s orders, and kill Rana’s mole. Guru lies to Ramakanth that Bagheera has escaped again after learning about Siddhi’s corruption, and reveals Rana’s location to Vedanth. Vedanth arrives at the goods train and kills Rana, avenging Sneha’s death. The kidnappees safely return and reunite with their families, while Vedanth leaves on a bus. Guru meets Ramaswamy, reveals the latter’s involvement with Rana, and tells him to resign from his post and surrender. When Ramaswamy refuses, Guru promises that Bagheera will hunt him down. The title was inspired by from . The film was announced in December 2020. began with a on 20 May 2022 at . The film was mainly shot in and in the outskirts of , and . Some key portions were shot in in October 2022. suffered a bone fracture and muscle tear in his knee, while filming an action sequence in January 2023. Shooting resumed in May 2023. In April 2024, Sriimurali was again injured for the second time. The film’s principal photography wrapped by July 2024. The music and background score was composed by . The audio rights were withheld by and released under their own channel. The of the film was released on 17 December 2023 on the occasion of ‘s birthday. The trailer of the film was released on 21 October 2024. The film was released on 31 October 2024, coinciding with in its original Kannada language, along with its -dubbed version. The film was earlier stated to release in mid-2023, but was later postponed for unknown reasons. The digital rights of the film were sold to . The film began streaming on Netflix from 21 November 2024 in Kannada and dubbed versions of Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam languages. The Hindi dubbed version began streaming on from 25 December 2024. Prathibha Joy of gave 4/5 stars and wrote ” is well-written, well-executed and well-acted. Yes, it is dark in tone, but not in the template. It’s a film about a vigilante who operates at night. It is action-heavy and leaves one wanting more.” S. Sridevi of gave 3.5/5 stars and wrote “Bagheera offers a good theatrical experience and now is a good time to roll a red-carpet to our very own homegrown superhero, Bagheera.” Shashiprasad SM of gave 3.5/5 stars and wrote “Are you a superhero fan who loves watching the good guy take down villains to save the day? Then this “namma” very own superhero, Bagheera is here, armed with just the right powers to deliver justice his way—no compromises till the end.” Pranathi A.S of gave 3.5/5 stars and wrote “Bagheera is a well-made action drama with a gripping screenplay. Prashanth Neel’s ability to write a simple yet engrossing story is commendable.” A. Sharadhaa of gave 3/5 stars and wrote “Writer-director Dr Suri crafts a superhero who is both relatable and infused with commercial appeal, essential for an overall entertaining experience, albeit one that treads familiar ground.” Sanjay Ponnappa of gave 3/5 stars and wrote “Bagheera is worth a watch and makes for a thrilling theatre experience this Diwali. Fans of the superhero genre, don’t miss this “Desi x ” film. Concepts like this are rare in India, and Bagheera certainly deserves appreciation; with a pinch of patience and understanding.” Vivek M.V of wrote “Directed by Dr Suri, Srii Murali’s ‘Bagheera’ is an entertaining superhero story of a masked vigilante, elevated by Chethan D Souza’s stunts and Ajaneesh Loknath’s terrific score.” Latha Srinivasan of wrote “Bagheera is a homegrown film that is mostly entertaining and a new genre for Kannada filmgoers to explore.” grossed (US$450,000) worldwide on its opening day, with the Kannada version alone collecting (US$350,000). The film then earned (US$470,000) on the second day, (US$490,000) on the third day, and (US$450,000) on the Sunday day, bringing the total to (US$1.9 million) over the four-day long weekend. After the first week, the movie’s worldwide gross stands at (US$2.6 million), including (US$2.4 million) from Karnataka alone. The Telugu version was reported to have grossed (US$170,000) in the first weekend. Movie collected (US$3.4 million) in two week theatrical run. The final collections were reported to be ₹29.50 crores.</p>