Naayak was released on 9 January 2013 on 1589 screens worldwide, during the season of the Makara Sankranti, where it received generally positive reviews from critics and emerged as the fifth highest-grossing Telugu film of 2013 collecting a distributors' share of ₹46.5 crore at the box office.

[3] Central Minister Rawat's brother Taxi Seth and his henchmen are killed by a person named Siddharth Naayak in order to save his friends.

Cherry's uncle Jilebi, who is the CEO of CgTrix, unexpectedly runs into trouble by angering the local gangster named Babji.

After Cherry saves several children from a group of human traffickers led by Dassu, Madhu reciprocates his love.

Siddharth's brother-in-law, who is a doctor, attends a case of a minor who was injected with steroids by Rawat's second brother Badvel and then forced into prostitution.

At the end of April 2011, V. V. Vinayak held story discussions for his next film, featuring Ram Charan as the protagonist and written by Akula Siva.

By then, Vinayak was busy in giving final touches to his film Badrinath (2011), and Ram Charan was participating in the shooting of Racha (2012), directed by Sampath Nandi.

[7] After completing all of the promotional activities for Badrinath, Vinayak and Siva started working on the film's script in early July 2011.

[11] Weeks before the film's release, a few Girijan students protested that the term "Naayak" referred to a certain tribal group, and they demanded a change of the title.

They found that there was no derogatory reference to either the name Naayak or the caste of tribes, either visually or in the audio part of the film, and cleared the use of the title.

[17] Hansika Motwani was rumoured as the second female lead, however this was denied by Danayya, who added that she was never considered for that role, and Kajal was the only actress who had been signed up until that point.

[18] In late February 2012, Amala Paul was selected as the second female lead, which she confirmed to Sify saying "Mynaa meets Magadheera".

I had to wear shades to hide the fatigue" and added "I was told that I wouldn't need much rehearsals, but was zapped when I saw the choreographer take me through the routine.

[26] Subsequent to the marriage ceremony, Ram Charan resumed his work on Naayak in late June 2012, after shooting for a Tata DoCoMo commercial.

On 7 October 2012, scenes featuring Ram Charan and Amala Paul were shot at the Cineplanet Multiplex near Kompally.

An entire day was spent shooting a few action episodes with Ram Charan at Chhotelal Ghat near the Mullickghat flower market, since Vinayak insisted on perfection.

[41] S. Thaman composed the film's soundtrack and background music, marking his first collaboration with both V. V. Vinayak and Ram Charan.

The soundtrack featured six songs with lyrics written by Chandrabose, Veturi Sundararama Murthy, Bhaskarabhatla Ravi Kumar and Sahithi.

[43] The film's soundtrack, which was marketed by Aditya Music, was launched on 17 December 2012, during a promotional event at Ramanaidu Studios.

[47] Six cuts were suggested by the board to delete politically charged dialogue, and few other lines that included the names of the Andhra Pradesh Governors, A. P. J. Abdul Kalam and Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan.

The board also requested a few words being altered in the song "Nellorae", and the display of a statutory warning on drinking and smoking wherever they occur in the film.

[13] The film was shown on 110 screens in Hyderabad, breaking the previous records set by Cameraman Gangatho Rambabu (2012) and Businessman (2012), which were released in 105 and 103 theatres, respectively.

[66][67] However, the film's trade was severely affected by Seethamma Vakitlo Sirimalle Chettu, dropping 70% at the overseas box office, with a three-day total of ₹92 lakh, compared to Seethamma Vakitlo Sirimalle Chettu 3 day opening day total of ₹1.13 crore.

[77] The film did good business by the end of its second weekend at the USA box office, ranking third in the charts by collecting ₹2.53 crore, despite the adverse effect of Seethamma Vakitlo Sirimalle Chettu which was in first place.

Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola stood in second place, although its per screen average was lower than that of Naayak.

[81] The film suffered a big setback after the release of Race 2 and Vishwaroopam, dropping to sixth place while collecting ₹2.65 crore in 23 days.

[87] Radhika Rajamani of Rediff.com wrote, "The first half of the film moves at a breezy pace while the interval brings in the twist.

[88] IndiaGlitz summarised, "Vinayak proves to be a director who knows how to play gimmicks with a formula story in hand and a narration baptized in masala.

Naayak is for all those who love to watch an entertainer filled with doses of heroism and comedy, and also good music," and added that the film is "commercial to the hilt".

[40] B. V. S. Prakash of Deccan Chronicle wrote, "Even though Ram Charan impresses in the role of a brooding young IT employee who is determined to smash evil forces, the final outcome is more comic than serious.