Waltair Veerayya () is a 2023 Indian Telugu-language action film directed by Bobby Kolli and produced by Mythri Movie Makers. The film stars Chiranjeevi as the title character alongside Ravi Teja, Shruti Haasan and Catherine Tresa. The film was announced in August 2021, principal photography commenced in December 2021 with filming taking place in Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam and Malaysia. The soundtrack was composed by Devi Sri Prasad with cinematography by Arthur A. Wilson.
Waltair Veerayya was released on 13 January 2023, and received positive reviews from critics. The film became commercially successful at the box office, thus becoming one of the highest grossing Telugu film of 2023.
Plot
Waltair Veerayya, a notorious fisherman and smuggler from Vizag, needs money to fight a court case. He is approached by CI Seethapathi, who tells him about Solomon Caesar, a notorious drug lord who escaped from RAW's custody after killing multiple police officers. Seethapathi, who was responsible for Solomon's custody, gets suspended from service. He asks Veerayya to extradite Solomon from Malaysia to India, in exchange for providing money. Veerayya accepts the deal and travels to Malaysia with his friends and Seethapathi's brother-in-law. They check in at a hotel owned by Solomon and devise a plot to kidnap him.
However, Veerayya misses the opportunity as he gets stunned by seeing Dr. Nithya and her daughter Vaishnavi, where Nithya angrily takes Vaishnavi away from Veerayya. Seethapathi's brother-in-law gets impatient and prompts Seethapathi to follow Solomon on their own without Veerayya's knowledge, only to get caught by Solomon. Veerayya arrives at the place and tricks Solomon into believing that they want to cut a drug deal with him, therefore saving the day. Later, Veerayya gets invited by Solomon to his private party where a group of masked assassins attempt to nab Solomon, but their plans are foiled by Veerayya, who later realizes that they are the hotel staff.
They reveal themselves as RAW agents, led by Athidhi. Solomon expresses his admiration for Veerayya and offers to ask him anything in return for saving his life. Veerayya asks him to come back to India, and Solomon agrees, but soon finds out about their ploy and they get busted. As Solomon assaults Athidhi for information with his elder brother Michael Caesar on video conference, Veerayya retaliates and reveals that Michael was his ultimate target. Veerayya kills Solomon at the public fair in the Batu Caves, where a helpless Michael witnesses everything.
Past: Four years ago, Michael, in disguise as a fisherman named Kaala, acts as Veerayya's friend and confidant. Without Veerayya's knowledge, Michael supplies drugs from the former's ice factory. The newly appointed ACP Vikram Sagar, who is also Veerayya's half-brother, arrives in Vizag and begins a crackdown on the drug syndicate. During their childhood, Veerayya, who suffered from vertigo, accidentally let Sagar fall from a tree. Ever since, the brothers grew up separately. Though Sagar developed hatred towards Veerayya, Veerayya always loved him. Sagar is also happily married to Nithya, and they have a daughter Vaishnavi.
Sagar tracks down the origin of drugs in Veerayya's locality, but Michael manages to keep his cover. One day, the ice factory accidentally supplies cocaine, wrapped in ice to a school, which resulted in the deaths of 25 children. Michael subsequently frames Veerayya and plans to escape to Malaysia. Veerayya gets arrested by the police, who decides to kill him in an encounter to calm the public rage. Sagar, who believes that Veerayya is innocent, loots the seized drugs to lure Michael. He secretly arrives at the planned encounter shooting, in place of Veerayya to nab Michael.
However, the JCP, who is also Sagar's senior officer, is in cahoots with Michael, and Michael's men fatally stab Sagar. Michael manages to escape as Veerayya arrives, but not before he shows his true face to him. Veerayya tries to take a heavily injured Sagar to the hospital, but Sagar succumbs to his injuries on the way, revealing that he always had affection for him but could not express it publicly due to his crackdown on the drug syndicate. Veerayya is stopped by the police and taken away. Sagar is deprived of state honors and labelled as a traitor by the police. Heartbroken, Veerayya decides on extraditing Michael to India for his testimony in court, before Seethapati shows him the way.