In 1980s Secunderabad, a community pushed to the margins takes up an unlikely fight for belonging - and that fight, staged across nearly three hours by director Srikanth Odela, is what "The Paradise" asks audiences to sit with. The Telugu action-drama-thriller, headlined by Nani and featuring Mohan Babu in a pivotal role, arrived in cinemas on September 23, 2026, and has drawn a split early response, landing at 6 out of 10 in the TMDb rating.

Its premise is weightier than the average star vehicle. The film follows a marginalised tribe as it confronts discrimination and pursues citizenship, doing so under the guidance of an unexpected leader who emerges from within the struggle rather than from any established power structure. Odela, who has built a reputation for grounding mass-cinema energy in rough-edged social textures, frames that battle against systemic oppression as the film's spine, with the action and suspense serving as the delivery mechanism rather than the point.

Nani steps into the role of Jadal, the figure around whom the community's resistance coalesces. The character appears designed to carry both the physical demands of an action lead and the quieter burden of representing people with no official place in the system they were born into. Mohan Babu, a veteran with decades of commanding screen presence behind him, plays Shikanja Maalik.

Kayadu Lohar appears as Subbulakshmi, called Subbu, while Sonali Kulkarni takes on the role of Sammakka. Raghav Juyal plays Vikram Maalik, and Sampoornesh Babu features as Biriyani. The ensemble is rounded out by Tanikella Bharani and Priyadarshi Pullikonda, the latter as MLA Shankaranna - a character name that suggests the film's political machinery is never far from the centre of the frame.

At 174 minutes, "The Paradise" is a substantial commitment, and its release on September 23 puts it squarely in the crowded post-monsoon window when Telugu audiences traditionally turn out in numbers. The classification of the film as belonging to Kollywood reflects its industry positioning, though its original language remains Telugu, and its story is rooted in the Deccan setting of 1980s Secunderabad - a detail that shapes both its visual grammar and its political vocabulary.

What the film appears to be attempting is a balancing act that Telugu cinema has returned to repeatedly in recent years: using the scaffolding of a mass hero narrative to carry material about caste, displacement, and the bureaucratic cruelty of citizenship. The 1980s setting gives Odela a period canvas, but it also puts the story at a deliberate remove, framing questions about who counts as a citizen through a historical lens rather than a contemporary one.

The 6 out of 10 TMDb rating points to a reception that has not consolidated into either enthusiastic endorsement or dismissal. That kind of middling score often tells its own story in the Telugu market, where the gap between opening-weekend fervour and longer-term word of mouth can be wide. A rating at this level suggests audiences are finding things to admire - presumably the performances, the staging, or the ambition of the subject - alongside elements that keep the film from landing as fully as it might.

With a runtime just under three hours, the question of whether "The Paradise" justifies its length is likely to be central to how it is received over the coming days. Odela has shown an appetite for sprawling, atmosphere-heavy storytelling before, and the presence of a large supporting cast suggests multiple narrative threads converging. How cleanly those threads tie together will shape whether the film builds the kind of sustained momentum that word of mouth rewards.

For Nani, the project represents a move into more explicitly political territory than some of his recent work, while for Mohan Babu it offers a role with clear dramatic heft. Lohar's Subbu and Kulkarni's Sammakka appear to anchor the film's female perspectives within a story that might otherwise be dominated by its male power struggles - an element worth watching as reviews continue to accumulate.

"The Paradise" is now playing in theatres. Whether it climbs beyond its current rating or settles as a divisive entry in Odela's filmography will depend on how audiences respond to its blend of period drama, action, and social argument over the next several weeks.

Source: Filmibeat Tamil