[5][6][7] The film stars Varun Tej Konidela, Atharvaa, Pooja Hegde, and Mirnalini Ravi.

The film has music composed by Mickey J. Meyer, cinematography was handled by Ayananka Bose, and editing by Chota K. Prasad.

The film received positive response from both critics and audiences praising cast performances (particularly Varun Tej and Pooja Hegde), action, direction, story and screenplay.

Abhi tells the truth, and Gani feels happy that they are making a biopic about him and narrates his story including his criminal activities.

At a party celebrating Abhi returning to Hyderabad, Bujjama asks Gani to act as a protagonist in his own biopic.

However, Abhi changes his mind after listening to the theatre operator's words and his passion for directing a film, but he can't do it due to Gani's bad acting.

Abhi's paternal uncle takes Gani's criminal evidence (tape recorder and files) and hands it over to the D. C. P., who turns out to be Devi's husband.

I felt Varun Tej will bring a fresh perspective for the negative role played by Bobby Simha in the original and that's how Valmiki began".

In early November 2018, it was reported that Harish Shankar was to remake the critically acclaimed Tamil-language film Jigarthanda (2014).

[18] Tej revealed that many people had cautioned him and asked him not to sign the film, since his role has negative shades.

[19] Harish said "After DJ, I wanted to go ahead with an urban love story on the lines of Fidaa and Tholi Prema with Varun Tej and pitched the script of Dagudu Muthalu.

"One of the major changes that we have done to this character, originally essayed by Bobby Simha, was give him a backstory to justify why he had become like that.

All the details about my look, the dialect I’m going to use, and body language emerged from the long conversations I have had with Harish during this phase", Tej added.

Harish further retained most of his regular technicians including cinematographer Ayananka Bose, editor Chota K. Prasad, stunt choreography duo Ram Lakshman, dance choreographer Sekhar and art director Avinash Kolla.

[32] Sukumar, V. V. Vinayak, Dil Raju, Niharika Konidela graced the event as chief guests, along with film's cast and crew.

[33][34] Varun Tej portrays the title character Gaddalakonda Ganesh, a gangster, and sported a bearded look for his role in the film.

[38] In February 2019, Pooja Hegde was confirmed to play the female lead,[39] marking her second collaboration with both Tej and Shankar after Mukunda (2014) and DJ (2017) respectively.

People will love her in the Velluvachi Godaramma remix that we shot at Yanam [Puducherry]", Shankar on Hegde's character.

[44][45] Mirnalini Ravi was reported to play a supporting role in the film and was paired opposite Atharvaa.

[63][64] A song featuring Pooja Hegde and Tej was shot on the banks of Godavari River at Rajahmundry in late-August.

[79] On 15 September 2018, a grand pre-release event for the film took place in Hyderabad at Shilpakala Vedika,[80] with Venkatesh as the chief guest.

The film featured four tracks with lyrics written by Bhaskarabhatla, Vanamali, Chandrabose and Veturi Sundararama Murthy.

[85] Valmiki, the legendary ancient Indian poet of the Ramayana, is especially revered by the Boyas and many people from that community protested to change the name of the film as the lead actor is in a negative role.

[98] Gaddalakonda Ganesh received a positive response, with both critics and audiences praising cast performances (particularly Varun Tej and Pooja Hegde), action, direction, story and screenplay.

[10] Neeshita Nyayapati writing for The Times of India gave 3.5/5 rating praising Varun Tej's performance as a gangster.

The movie starts off on an interesting note and the entire first half is filled with the some action sequences and the story of the gangster.

"[99] Rating the film with 3 out of 5 stars, Jeevi of Idlebrain.com wrote "Harish Shankar takes the Tamil cult classic Jigarthanda and gives a mass tweak to it by changing the PoV from hero to villain.

[101] A 123 Telugu critic rated it 3 out of 5 stars and wrote "On the whole, Gaddalakonda Ganesh is a passable mass drama which has a few good moments.

[103] Sangeetha Devi writing for The Hindu suggested this adaptation raises a toast to the cinema, more importantly showcases the power of the director.

[104] Hemanth Kumar CR of Firstpost wrote "Varun Tej’s makeover as a fierce gangster is Gaddhalakonda Ganesh’s biggest USP and Harish Shankar taps into the actor’s energy to add zing into this film"[105] Gaddalakonda Ganesh had higher occupancy on its opening day.