The natural resources of Devarakota are being exploited by Sashi, the brother of Central minister Venkata Ratnam, whose tyranny has made many locals migrate to the city to seek a better life.

After subtly warning Ratnam at his residence in Delhi, Harsha secretly makes a lower bid on behalf of his father's company and wins the contract.

When he asks the reason, she says that Ravikanth is a native of Devarakota who left for Hyderabad to earn wealth unlike her father Narayana Rao, and she bids farewell.

The film ends with Ravikanth and his family visiting Rao's house on Sankranthi, where Harsha, now Charuseela's husband, receives them warmly.

[7] A possible delay was expected as Mahesh had earlier agreed to work on a film directed by Raj Nidimoru and Krishna D.K., produced by Ashwini Dutt, after completing Aagadu (2014).

[citation needed] Haasan said that she would play a "strong, independent, intelligent" and simple girl in the film, adding that the romance between the lead pair would be a "very calm, relaxed and classy" one.

Uthaman told Indo-Asian News Service that a few scenes required numerous takes due to his difficulties with the language and called Mahesh considerate to have helped him.

[27] After auditioning seventy actresses, Angana Roy was selected to play an "important part" in the film, marking her debut in Telugu cinema.

[28] Sanam Shetty was signed after one of the unit members of her unreleased Telugu debut Intinta Annamayya convinced the film-makers to consider her.

[30] Tejaswi Madivada, who earlier worked with Mahesh in Seethamma Vakitlo Sirimalle Chettu (2013), was signed to play a politician's daughter.

[citation needed] The first look poster featured Mahesh riding a Cannondale Scalpel 29 Carbon 3 bike costing approximately ₹3.5 lakh.

[citation needed] A cycling rally was held on 16 August 2015 at Gachibowli, Hyderabad, where Mahesh met 2,500 cyclists as a part of the film's promotion.

Whilst the remaining donors received a special T-shirt,[58] G. Nageswara Reddy from Karimnagar district was announced as the winner of the cycle by the film's unit in mid-November 2015.

[59] The global television broadcast rights were sold to Zee Telugu in late May 2015 for a high but undisclosed price,[citation needed] estimated to be around ₹12 crore.

Dundoo further stated, "This isn't Ashutosh Gowariker's Swades, where Shah Rukh Khan finds his true calling in a much more realistic manner.

[62] Sify called Srimanthudu a "right mix of Mahesh's emotional and class performance, Shruthi's charisma, fine storyline and all materials that are needed for a good entertainer".

Yet there can be no denying that Srimanthudu achieves more than any big ticket Tollywood potboiler has in more in that last decade [sic], for the simple reason that it is a drama made like one.

"[64] Sethumadhavan N of the Bangalore Mirror rated the film 3.5 out of 5 and wrote, "Make no mistake, Srimanthudu is certainly a big commercial entertainer and has most of the elements needed for the same.

[66] Hemanth Kumar C. R. of Outlook India rated the film 3.5 out of 5 and stated, "In an industry where weaving a story to suit the image of an A-list star is common, Mahesh Babu's latest, Srimanthudu, takes a different course.

[68] Kirubhakar Purushothaman of India Today rated the film 2.5 out of 5 and wrote, "There are many cliches throughout the story, but still Srimanthudu manages to hold your attention.

"[69] Suhas Yellapuntala of The New Indian Express wrote, "The director showcases power, greed, corruption as well as regression, hope and agony, in equal measure.

[citation needed] Trade analyst Trinath told Indo-Asian News Service that the first day global gross stood at ₹310 million.

[citation needed] The film collected US$1,753,698 (₹111.8 million) from about 150 screens at the United States box office in two days, which Taran Adarsh called an "impressive" start.

[citation needed] By the end of its first weekend, Srimanthudu collected a total of US$2.1 million at the United States box office and became the second-highest grossing Telugu film of all time in the country.

[citation needed] In its second weekend, Srimanthudu collected US$342,010 from 102 screens at the United States box office thus taking its ten-day total to US$2,654,658 (₹173.5 million).

[82] Mahesh adopted his father Krishna's native village Burripalem, a minor panchayat in Tenali, and announced a plan to address basic needs of the community such as potable drinking water and better roads and drainage systems.

[83] After discussing with Telangana's then Rural Development minister K. T. Rama Rao, Mahesh decided to adopt Siddhapuram, a village in Mahabubnagar district.

[54] According to Y. Sunita Chowdary of The Hindu, Srimanthudu's success "heralded the acceptance of new stories and a rejection of template comedies that have been recycled for over ten years".

Director S. S. Rajamouli opined that Srimanthudu's success lies in the "clever mixture of village adoption with family sentiment", adding that Mahesh "looks cool, acts subtle, talks mellow" and the overall effect is "flabbergasting".

[citation needed] Director Ram Gopal Varma said that Srimanthudu proved that impact "doesn't only come from 100 of crores and 100 days of shooting" and "a simple story and plain closeups of Mahesh can too".