The film was originally scheduled to release on 25 April 2019. On 6 March 2019,
Dil Raju announced that the film would be postponed due to delay in the post-production work. The film was released theatrically on 9 May 2019 in India and on 8 May 2019 across 2500 screens in the United States. The film was also dubbed and released in 2020 in
Tamil as
Ungalukkaga Oruvan, in
Kannada as
Veera Maharshi and in
Malayalam. The
Hindi dubbed version was directly premiered on Goldmines TV channel on 16 June 2024.
Distribution The film's pre-release business, which includes theatrical, overseas, satellite, digital, music and dubbing rights, were sold for .
Hindi dubbing rights of the film were sold to Goldmines Telefilms for . Vintage Creations (
East Godavari), Adhitya Films (
West Godavari), Phars Film (
United Arab Emirates),
Sri Venkateswara Creations (
Nizam and
Uttarandhra), V Movies (Guntur), Rising Star Entertainment (
United Kingdom), G3 Movies (
Krishna) and Swagath Enterprises (
Karnataka).
Marketing A 43-second video titled
#MeetRishi was released on 9 August 2018, coinciding with Mahesh Babu's birthday. On 10 March 2019, Mahesh Babu shared a few behind-the-scenes pictures on the social media. The official teaser of the film titled
#JoinRishi was released on
Ugadi, 6 April 2019. To promote the film, a pre-release event was held on 1 May 2019, at People's Plaza,
Necklace Road,
Hyderabad. The official
trailer and complete audio album of the film were released at the event. Various music artistes of the soundtrack album performed songs from the film.
Vijay Deverakonda and
Venkatesh were the chief guests of the event. On 16 May 2019, an interactive event titled
Maharshulatho Maharshi was held in Hyderabad, in which Paidipally and Babu had an interaction/interview with the
farmers. Later, a similar event titled
Repati Maharshulatho Maharshi was held, in which both of them interacted with the school students of
The Hyderabad Public School. Eight days after the release, an event was held at
Vijayawada,
Andhra Pradesh, to celebrate the film's success. The event, titled
Maharshi Vijayotsavam, was held on 18 May 2019. In June 2019, the event
Celebrating Maharshi was held at
Shilpakala Vedika, Hyderabad, to celebrate the film's 50 day run in 211
cinemas across India.
Home media The satellite rights of the film were purchased by
Sun TV Network for , and the Telugu version was sold for
Gemini TV for . Its fifth-time premiere on the channel registered a TRP rating of 10.28. On an average, the TRP ratings of other premieres are also more than 4. The film's digital rights were acquired by
Amazon Prime Video for , The digital and satellite rights of the Tamil and Kannada dubbed versions of the film were acquired by
Star India. The Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam dubbed versions of the film premiered on
Star Vijay,
Star Suvarna and
Zee Keralam respectively, on 18 October 2020.
Critical reception Maharshi received mixed reviews from the critics who praised the cast performances, action sequences, technical aspects, plot and emotional quotient while criticising the predictable and lengthy narration. Sangeetha Devi Dundoo of
The Hindu wrote, "At the heart of Maharshi is a story that could have been leveraged to make a compelling social drama that also traces the transformative journey of an ambitious man. But there’s a huge gap between what it could have been and what it is".
The Times of India's Neeshita Nyayapati gave a rating of 3 out of 5 and wrote that "Watch it not just for Mahesh Babu and Allari Naresh’s performances but also for the story, if you don’t mind all the bells and whistles it comes with. It might not be entertaining all through, thanks to the draggy bits, but its heart is in the right place". Writing for
Hindustan Times, Karthik Kumar opined "Maharshi is a problematic film with big ideas but it tugs at heartstrings. Take out the farming sub-plot, Maharshi would’ve been a tiresome watch in which Rishi just won’t shut up with his sermons on success".
Sify criticised the film's narration and duration. The reviewer felt that the film has predictable storyline, lacks any shred of originality, the second half is totally unsatisfied and the emotional core is not convincing..
News18 stated "Maharshi exudes a sense of comfort and happiness in the midst of the wreckage and targeting".
India Today gave 2.5 out of 5 stars stating "Maharshi has a meaty story in between several sub-plots. If only it was crisp and to the point. If only. Mahesh Babu's Maharshi is not about a business tycoon coming back to his motherland. He has a bigger purpose here". Hemanth Kumar of
Firstpost praised cinematography, performances of lead actors and film score, adding: "
Maharshi is a well-intentioned drama and has some beautifully written sequences; however, it holds back on a lot of things it wants to say for so long that it makes you feel restless at times". A critic of
Deccan Chronicle too praised cinematography, performances of lead actors and film score, giving a rating of three-and-half out of five. Gabbeta Ranjith Kumar of
The Indian Express cited the film as "crowd pleaser", giving a final verdict – "Vamshi Paidipally handles an emotionally intense subject well. But, the director could have paid more attention to Maharshi’s run-time. He could have chopped two masala songs which act as speed bumps." Krishna Sripada of
The News Minute gave a rating of 3 out of 5 and opined that the film is "strictly for the fans", writing that "
Maharshi has plenty to keep the fans whistling. Naresh's character is well-written, and it is his role that offers the pivotal turning point in the movie. Which makes you wonder why he watches a big chunk of the climax from the sidelines, as if he were there only for emotion-capture, like the relative of a
KBC contestant." He further wrote "Prakash Raj, Rao Ramesh and Tanikella Bharani - we have almost lost the art of making our character artists important in giving more and more space to the hero. I mean, come on, even Iron Man concedes space to others. Mahesh does these roles effortlessly and one wonders if there is a pattern behind three successive social-message-based, larger-than-life movies. A change, maybe? One for the actor in him, and not just to please the fans!". Sankeertana Varma of
Film Companion opined the same, stating, "
Maharshi might just be a delightful movie for a Mahesh Babu fan—after all, it’s mostly him achieving this and that, and running to save people left and right—but for a fan of the movies, it offers nothing."
The Quint also criticised film's weak narration, predictable storyline, while appreciated Vamshi's work and DSP's score composition. About Vamshi's work, the critic wrote "Like Vamshi Paidipalli’s previous film
Oopiri,
Maharshi oozes with the intense desire to share something of value with the audience. The message that farmers need to be valued. And that youngsters can achieve anything they set their mind to." Murali Krishna CH of
The New Indian Express called it "an overlong melodramatic journey," criticising its runtime. "[T]he journey of Mahesh Babu's Rishi is way too long and demands much patience on our part," he added. In contrast, a critic of
The Free Press Journal rated the film four out of five, writing "
Maharshi exudes a sense of comfort and happiness in the midst of the wreckage and targeting."
Business Standard too gave a rating of 4 out of 5, writing "The first-half with its quaint college is heartwarming without trying to be excessively cute. Mahesh Babu's transformative performance from arrogant conceit to conscientious farmer is arguably his best to date."
Box office On opening day, the film collected a gross collection of worldwide. In the
Telugu-speaking states of India, it collected a gross collection of and a distributors' share collection of . In its second day of release, the film earned a distributors' share of in
Andhra Pradesh and
Telangana. In the first extended weekend (Thursday release), the film entered the
1 Billion Club. By the end of its first weekend, the film had earned a distributors' share collection of in
Bengaluru. By the sixth day of its release, it had collected a gross of $1,500,000 in the
United States, making it the sixth film to cross the mark in Babu's career. In seven days, it grossed over at the
United Arab Emirates box office. In 11 days, the film collected in Telugu-speaking states (
Andhra Pradesh and
Telangana). By the end of its theatrical run, the film had grossed worldwide, while in the international market the film earned a gross collection of . == Accolades ==