Bruce Lee: The Fighter[1] is a 2014 Indian Telugu-language action comedy film directed by Sreenu Vaitla and produced by D. V. V. Danayya under DVV Entertainments.

The film stars Ram Charan, alongside Rakul Preet Singh, Arun Vijay, Kriti Kharbanda, Sampath Raj and Nadhiya.

In the film, Karthik, a stuntman, is mistaken for a cop, where he helps to unearth the schemes of Deepak Raj, a drug peddler and his father Jayaraj.

Srinu Vaitla narrated the script to Charan in March 2014, and planned to work on the story post the release of Aagadu.

[2] Bruce Lee: The Fighter was released on 3 December 2014, during the festival of Christmas, to negative reviews from critics and became a box-office bomb.

Years later, Karthik aka Bruce Lee is a stunt performer working under Dangerous David, and Kavya is studying for CSE Exam.

Kavya writes her final exams needed and while she is returning, Deepak drugs her forcefully and arrests her to trick Ram Gopal to think that the kidnapped girl was his daughter.

Karthik learns of the incident and thrashes up Deepak, sending him into a coma and returns in time for Kavya's engagement with Rahul, the son of Jayaraj and Vasundhara who are bosses of Rama Chandra Rao.

Meanwhile, Deepak captures and shoots Karthik and orders their henchmen to pack him in a plastic bag and drop him on a nearby canal.

Driven by vengeance, Jayaraj kidnaps Ria and stabs Rama Chandra Rao in front of him after he tells all about Karthik's sacrifices for his family.

[7] After returning from a holiday in Kerala, Charan gave his nod in early December 2014 and Vaitla was busy giving final touches to the script which was said to be a fast-paced action comedy.

[9] My Name is Raju, a phrase picked up from the popular song of Jagadeka Veerudu Athiloka Sundari (1990) starring Chiranjeevi and Sridevi, was considered as the film's title.

[14] The makers contemplated to title the film as Bruce Lee in mid May 2015 considering the protagonist's character being a stuntman acting as a body double for actors,[15] which was confirmed in late August 2015.

[32] Impressed by his performance in Velaiilla Pattadhari (2014), the makers cast Amitash Pradhaan to play a supporting role marking his Telugu debut.

[33] Similarly, Tamil actor Arun Vijay was chosen to play the film's lead antagonist making his debut in Telugu after the makers were impressed with his performance in Yennai Arindhaal.

[43] He was later confirmed to be seen as an action choreographer sporting a rugged look for which he had to shed weight by following a tough fitness regimen for four hours a day at his farmhouse in Bangalore.

[46] Videos showing Charan's kick boxing training sessions were released by Jaika Stunt team on 23 April 2015.

[49] Vaitla envisioned a middle aged woman running a manufacturing firm as Charan's mother in the film.

[61] Anirudh walked out of the project in late March 2015 and was subsequently replaced by S. Thaman who collaborated with Vaitla for Dookudu (2011), Baadshah (2013) and Aagadu (2014).

[68] On 15 June 2015, Charan revealed through his official Facebook page that filming of two songs, interval fight sequences and a few scenes have been completed till then.

[77] Charan and Rakul Preet Singh participated in the shoot of the song "Bruce Lee" for 24 hours continuously.

[79] The film's soundtrack is composed by S. Thaman and featured five tracks with lyrics written by Sri Mani and Ramajogayya Sastry.

[80] The soundtrack album was marketed by Zee Music Company in their Telugu debut,[81] and was released on 9 September 2014 at a launch event held in Hitex Convention Centre in Madhapur, Hyderabad.

[90] The overseas theatrical distribution rights were acquired by Great India Films in mid July 2015, for a price of ₹6 crore.

Bruce Lee opened in more than 360 centres in the overseas region (US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, UK, Europe, Middle East, Tokyo, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, South Africa, Botswana, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand) and in more than 500 screens.

[104] Sangeetha Devi Dundoo of The Hindu wrote "Ram Charan dances like a dream, as always, and shows marked improvement as an actor.

"[105] Writing for The Times of India, Karthik Pasupulate gave 3 out of 5 and wrote "The film is a bit melodrama and sadly the gags turn out to be the dampener.

"[106] Writing for India Today, Kirubhakar Purushothaman gave 2.5 out of 5 stars and wrote "There are films which exactly pan out in a way you predict they would, without any disarray, and still they don't disappoint you.

"[108] Bangalore Mirror noted that it "Bruce Lee-The Fighter is strictly passable fare where Srinu Vaitla fails to really entertain us convincingly" giving it a 2.5 out of 5.

[109] Behindwoods gave 2.75 out of 5 stating "Bruce Lee-The fighter would have been a lot more original and different, If the director had not adhered to the age old model of commercial cinema and capitalized more on the action part, but due to the situational based comedy, non-exaggerated climax, Srinu delivers another winner that is sure to entertain.