Anaganaga Oka Raju Ending Explained: Who Wins Peddapalem Village Election?

I am a huge fan of Naveen Polishetty’s talent as a comedian; while I don’t follow his stand-up routine, his skits from “AIB” are quite memorable and are a must-watch in my opinion. However, I wasn’t aware of how capable he is as a masala movie lead until I came across Maari’s latest Telugu romantic comedy, “Anaganaga Oka Raju.” Despite having an extremely simple narrative as the foundation, the movie turns out fairly entertaining solely thanks to the performance of the leads and also the silly satirical takes on Indian politics and marriage shenanigans.

Spoilers Ahead

Did Raju’s “Operation Charulatha” Succeed?

Raju, grandson of the renowned zamindar of Gauravapuram village, the late Goparaju, is a good-for-nothing, freeloading bloke who dreams of living a lavish life, trying to escape the reality that his family’s past social and financial standing can’t carry the burden of his dreams. In the past, Goparaju used to be one of the richest, most influential zamindars in the state, but before dying, he donated almost all of his property to charity or to his womanizing endeavors. A worn-out zamindar bungalow is the only thing Raju has inherited from his grandfather. Despite being broke, Raju’s lofty ambitions prompt him to maintain a pretentious image of a wealthy patron, and his personal assistant/confidante/helping hand, Gumastha, helps him in every way to do so. 

Upon visiting the marriage ceremony of one of his relatives, Buchi Babu, a drunkard who used to con people, Raju becomes surprised to see how Buchi’s financial status has taken a complete U-turn by marrying into a wealthy family. The only daughter of the family fell in love with Buchi, thereby allowing him to practically own the entirety of their property in the process. Buchi’s mother, who is proud of their sudden change in status, insults Raju and asks the security to take the freeloader away from the marriage venue. Infuriated and humiliated, Raju pledges to Buchi’s mother that he will organize a much bigger, a royal marriage ceremony, and she will be the first to receive an invitation.

With his friends and Gumastha by his side, Raju plans to find a suitable prospective bride—preferably the only daughter of a rich family who won’t hesitate to give away everything to their son-in-law. Indian marital practices allow even a broke guy like Raju to find financial security through marriage thanks to the zamindar family background and the advantage of being high in the caste hierarchy. After multiple failed attempts to find a suitable bride, Raju falls for Charulatha, daughter of an extremely wealthy Bhupatiraju from Peddapalem village, on their very first meeting at the village temple. It is revealed that Charulatha is betrothed to Erribabu, who is going to take family legacy forward by becoming Peddapulam village chief.  Despite knowing this, determined to make Charulatha fall in love with him, Raju initiates his ‘Operation Charulatha.’ Researching about her likings and habits, Raju plays his cards right—right from pretending to be an extremely charitable, wealthy man, to pretending to be a dog lover, to pretending to beat up goons, and even organizing a dreamy beachside getaway. Raju’s foolproof plan succeeds when Charulatha completely falls for him and Bhupatiraju himself arrives to meet him and offers his daughter’s hand for marriage. Giving all his property to Raju and granting him power of attorney, Bhupatiraju shares his plan to leave for pilgrimage once the marriage is over.  Erribabu is extremely angered at this, as he considers Bhupatiraju’s decision an act of betrayal.

Why Does Raju Join Politics?

As planned, Raju hosts a grand, luxurious wedding ceremony, being blissfully ignorant about what a shocking turn of events is going to take place on the very next day. The next day, Bhupatiraju appears to have gone away, and the bank manager, lender, and all the parties to whom he owed money swarm Raju. As it turns out, Bhupatiraju incurred debt in crores to maintain his family’s wealthy lifestyle and due to his gambling habit, and unable to pay it back, he needed a scapegoat to pay off all his financial burdens. Raju is shocked out of his wits when he learns from Charulatha that they considered him to be a wealthy zaminder like he pretended to be, and just like ‘Operation Charulatha,’ the father-daughter duo initiated their own ‘Operation Raju’ to ensure he chooses Charulatha as his bride. Hence, the resultant double whammy, as both of the parties have been duped by the false appearance they carried in front of each other. At least in the past Raju was just a poor man; now, thanks to owning Power of Attorney to Bhupatiraju’s property, he has to remain submerged in debt. The bank and the rest of the lenders threaten Raju that he and Charulatha will be evicted from Bhupatiraju’s palatial family home unless they manage to fetch the borrowed amount. 

To pile up on their misery, Erribabu arrives and reveals that after two months, when he wins village elections where there is no opposition to challenge him, he will evict the couple from the village. As gathering the money on such short notice seems impossible to Raju, he decides to do what every good-for-nothing individual of this country does in the hopes of getting rich without making any contribution, i.e., joining politics. Raju, with bare minimum education and zero political knowledge, decides to challenge Erribabu for village elections. His plan is to become village chief, which will give him enough power and influence to counter Erribabu’s attempt to get back to him and Charulatha, and in the five-year tenure as a chief, he hopes to gather enough black money to become rich enough to pay off Bhupatiraju’s debts. Charulatha appreciates Raju’s ingenuity and joins his election campaign as well. 

Initially, Raju faces great difficulty connecting with people, partly due to the hilariously bad election campaign and partly due to his own tomfoolery. Eventually, it becomes quite clear to him that Erribabu’s family, who have held on to the village chief position for generations, did nothing for the betterment of the villagers. From education to healthcare to sewage systems to the availability of drinking water, every project for which the state government has allocated money has been stolen by Erribabu’s family through the years. Following a discussion with Charulatha, Raju decides to highlight these issues by making reels, which gain immense traction by getting viral on the social media. This not only allows him to connect with the local populace, but it also allows the troublesome issues to reach the state ministry’s and media’s attention. The chief minister himself calls Erribabu’s family to threaten them with consequences unless they take immediate actions to resolve Peddapalem village’s issues. Raju becomes an overnight sensation in Peddapalem village, and as all the aforementioned issues are taken care of, villagers honor Raju as their savior, as his effort resolved problems they had been facing for decades. 

Who Wins Peddapalem Village Elections?

It becomes clear as daylight that Raju is going to win the village election, and Erribabu decides to make a last-ditch attempt to convince Raju to sabotage his own campaign by offering him twenty crore in exchange for leaking a fake video of him lambasting villagers for their gullible nature. Raju remembers that everything he has done so far in the campaign was motivated by his need to pay off debts, which he can take care of with such a huge amount at his disposal. For Erribabu, the twenty crore amount is a small investment, as once he becomes village chief, he can steal from the three thousand crore government tender that will be given for industrialization in the outskirts of the village. 

After some hesitation, Raju and Charulatha agree to take the money, and Raju leaks a concocted video, as he had promised in exchange for the amount. As the video reaches the villagers and the media, Raju is immensely criticized, and mere days before the election, villagers make it clear that they regret putting their hopes on a trickster like Raju. 

However, as it turns out, Raju didn’t take the money for himself and Charulatha; instead, he used it to free the lands of the villagers, which had been illegally seized by banks and other money sharks. During his election campaign, Raju had a massive change of heart, as for the first time in his life he could feel the love and respect from people, which he wanted to receive so desperately. Upon learning how a major portion of impoverished villagers and their families suffered due to questionable, land-grabbing policies of banks and lenders, Raju became determined to look beyond his selfish need. He confided in Charulatha that all his life he acted out of his self-interest, and thanks to this election campaign, he has realized that villagers’ misery is much greater than his own. Raju and Charulatha used the twenty crores to pay off the debt of the villagers and personally returned the land documents to them. Bhupatiraju’s palatial house is seized by the lenders as Raju has no way to pay off, but he no longer feels the need to sustain his life in borrowed opulence. Instead, Raju warns the bank manager and lenders to never take advantage of the villagers ever again, unless they want to face severe consequences. Gomastha, who knew Raju as a crafty, cunning, and selfish man throughout his life, is overwhelmed with emotions upon realizing his true magnanimous nature.  

Villagers, inspired by Raju’s sacrificial and charitable act, vote for him, and Raju ends up winning the election, unexpectedly. Erribabu, dismayed and embarrassed upon losing the elections, starts creating a ruckus with his goons. Charulatha protests, and he shows his pedigree by raising hands on her, and Raju intervenes in his heroic avatar. Making a grand appearance like a South Indian mass movie hero, Raju beats up Erribabu and his thugs, and exercising his power as new village chief, drives them out of the vicinity. 

Seeing his son-in-law has won village elections, Bhupatiraju, who remained in hiding for so long, appears out of nowhere and shares the good news about the government tender—bringing much relief to the villagers who can now hope for a better future. Bhupati additionally reveals that he has a ten-acre land near the proposed industrial area, which is not mortgaged and, thanks to a government tender, will now have immense value. He offers the land to Raju, who respectfully declines to obtain anything from anyone else from here on out. Life has given him a lesson to not depend on others’ wealth to secure his future, and thanks to his recent experiences, it can be hoped that Raju will try to shape his fate on his own and will become a worthy village chief in the upcoming future. Bhupatiraju can pay off the debts by selling the ten-acre land, freeing his family of the burdens he himself had piled on.  

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