A remake of the 2006 Telugu film Vikramarkudu, based on an original story written by V. Vijayendra Prasad, it stars Akshay Kumar in a dual role of a brave police officer and a thief.

[3] The film also features Sonakshi Sinha, Gurdeep Kohli, Yashpal Sharma and Paresh Ganatra in supporting roles, while Nassar portrays the main antagonist.

[4] In the film, Vikram Rathore, a brave and honest police officer is killed by a gangster named Baapji.

Filmed primarily in Mumbai and Hampi on a budget of ₹ 60 crore,[5] Rowdy Rathore was released worldwide on 1 June 2012.

Eventually, it is revealed that Chinki's father is ASP Vikram Rathore, a brave, disciplined, and respected police officer who criminals fear.

While chasing a goon to find his daughter, Vikram gets hit by an auto, and his brain endures severe trauma.

After a few days, Shiva gets fed up with Chinki and breaks the tape recorder she uses to listen to her late mother's voice.

At the hospital, Shiva realizes that the railway station woman is, in fact, a real police officer, Inspector Razia Khan.

There, a goon called Baapji and his son Munna caused trouble, torturing and annexing money from the villagers.

Vikram immediately arrested Munna by force for raping Vishal's wife, but he was released because of Baapji's political influence.

The next day, Vikram got attacked by Baapji's brother Titla, where he was stabbed in the back while the people were celebrating Munna's death and shot in the head while trying to save a village child.

Shiva sets Baapji's liquor factory on fire and distributes the grains and money back to the villagers.

[14] Sanjay Leela Bhansali teamed up with designer Shabinaa Khan to co-produce Rowdy Rathore, which is his first film with Akshay Kumar.

Prabhu Deva, Kareena Kapoor, and Vijay made a friendly appearance in the video for "Chinta Ta" song.

[16][17][18] The police denied permission for the shooting of Rowdy Rathore at the World Heritage Site Hampi, following protests from local activists and artists.

The film unit consisting of director Prabhu Deva, actors Akshay Kumar, Sonakshi Sinha, Shraddha Kapoor and 50 other dancers left the site on Tuesday, authorities issued directions to the crew to stop shooting with immediate effect following violations of ASI conservation rules and for tranquillity.

Local people and artists opposed the shooting of a song sequence, featuring Akshay and Sonakshi, along with many dancers, scheduled to be shot at several heritage sites in Karnataka, including the Vijaya Vittala temple, Lotus Mahal, Maha Navami Dibba and other historic places in the 15th century capital of the Vijayanagara Empire.

UTV tied up with radio channel Red FM for organizing a contest titled "Rowdy Hunt" to look for social do-gooders and others who work towards social betterment – winners of the contest will accompany star Akshay Kumar to promote the film during his tours.

The hunt has taken place in Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Lucknow, Mumbai and New Delhi, where callers were invited to share their grievances and tackle the culprit on a public platform in true "Rowdy" style.

Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama gave the film 4 stars, saying, "If you savor typical masaledaar fares, this one should be on your have-to-watch listing for certain.

"[29] Srijana Mitra Das for The Times of India gave the film 3 stars of 5, and said, "Fans will love Akshay's mooch-twirling masala-act but be ready for hardcore action too — some pretty gruesome.

"[30] Shomini Sen from Zee News also gave 3 stars out of 5 and said, "The premise of the film may be good, but the treatment is that of a typical south Indian pot boiler.

"[33] Blessy Chettiar of DNA India gave the film 2 stars out of 5, concluding, "Akshay's me-too is fun while it lasts.

Watch it if only to remind yourself of old Khiladi flicks...."[35] Trisha Gupta of Firstpost reviewed "Rowdy Rathore is a mess of maal, masala and moustache while it has neither the wit nor the charm needed to craft a real send-up".

"[38] Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN gave 1 stars out of 5, commenting "At 2 hours and 20 minutes, Rowdy Rathore is excruciatingly long.

A few jokes work because Akshay Kumar does goofy well, but this film doesn't have half the energy of Prabhudeva's last directorial outing in Hindi, the Salman Khan starrer Wanted.