"They buried the story."
The teaser for Rahul Sankrityan’s highly anticipated period drama Ranabaali was recently released.
The two-minute teaser stars Vijay Deverakonda, Arnold Vosloo and Rashmika Mandanna in a story set in 19th century South India.
The film tells the powerful and historically rooted tale of a British-made famine and one man’s fierce rise to fight against colonial oppression.
The teaser establishes that the story unfolds between 1876 and 1878, a period during which 8 million Indian lives were lost under British rule.
Arnold Vosloo plays Sir Theodore Hector, a man who rules the then-Madras constituency with a ruthless and unrelenting iron fist.
The footage shows how Hector rations rice and essential grains across the region to the point where people begin dying of starvation.
Against this backdrop of devastating suffering, Vijay Deverakonda’s Ranabaali rises with fury to fight back against the brutal colonial oppression.
He is called a “savage” by the British even as he fights ferociously against them to liberate and protect his starving people.
Rashmika Mandanna plays Jayamma, Ranabaali’s wife, who is also among those deeply affected by the catastrophic famine.
Production house Mythri Movie Makers shared the teaser with a powerful caption that captured the film’s defiant and deeply emotional spirit:
“They buried the story. They erased the name. They erased their sins.
“But they could never bury his RAGE. Folklore and History will never forget.”
“RANABAALI. THE SAVAGE’S OATH.”
Vijay Deverakonda also posted the teaser himself, writing: “Never forget the Men who came as guests and stayed as oppressors.
“The Men in our villages, who decided to draw blood. ‘The Savage’s Oath.'”
Fans reacted with tremendous enthusiasm after watching the teaser, flooding social media with praise for its scale and emotional intensity.
Many fans hoped Ranabaali would mark a significant comeback for Vijay after his last few films struggled at the box office.
The film is scheduled for a worldwide theatrical release on October 16, 2026, making it one of the most eagerly awaited Telugu releases of 2026.
Ranabaali also carries considerable personal significance as it marks the first on-screen collaboration between Vijay and Rashmika since their marriage.
The two had been a beloved on-screen pair in Geetha Govindam (2018) and Dear Comrade (2019), films that remain deeply cherished by their shared fanbase.
Despite being approached for projects together in the years that followed, the duo did not work together for a significant stretch of time.
