Story
Bhagavanth Kesari is serving jail time. Jailer (Sarath Kumar) comes to know that BK is an honest man. They become friends. And BK also shares good rapport with jailor’s daughter Vijji. BK adopts Vijji after the sudden death of the jailer. They develop a father-daughter bond. It was the wish of the jailer to see his daughter in the army. Rest of the story is all about the backstory of BK and how he fulfills the jailer's wish.

Artists Performance
Nandamuri Balakrishna has proved himself as a director’s actor again. This is the first NBK film without any duets. He has to underplay himself in most of the scenes. He has given an excellent performance in both sentimental and ferocious scenes. He has shown cool swag in the flashback episode with quirky body language. SreeLeela is very good in a performance oriented role. Kajal Agarwal has a role with limited screen presence and she is good. Arjun Rampal is competent as a villain with a crooked leg. R Sarath Kumar, Aadukalam Naren, Raghubabu, P Ravi Shankar, John Vijay, VTV Ganesh and Racha Ravi are fine.

Story - screenplay - direction: Story of the film is about how a father-like-figure makes a young woman mentally and physically tough. The father-daughter angle looks new for Balakrishna. Director Anil Ravipudi who has proved himself as an entertainment director has chosen a sentiment/action subject and mostly stuck to the plot point. His decision not to deviate from the plot is a plus for the film and it added novelty to the characterisation of NBK and SreeLeela. The villain’s characterization is not effective. And it doesn't look heroic when a physically challenged guy fights with the fully-fit hero one-to-one in the climax and loses. First half of the film is a little underwhelming. However, the 2nd half picks up. Thanks to the wacky character of a cop played by the hero in the flashback. The director has made a provision to include elements about women empowerment whenever there is a scope. The episode about “Good Touch - Bad Touch” is good as this message gets a wider reach when a star like NBK tells it in a mainstream film. Pace of the film is inconstent.

Other departments: Songs scored by Thaman are good, especially Uyyalo Uyyala song. This tune was also used in the background music to create bond among father-daughter characters. Background music is also good. Cinematography by C Ram Prasad is very good. However, there is no color separation between the subject and background elements in a few shots. Dialogues are written. Some of the dialogues are very thought provoking. Editing by Thammi Raju is fine. Production design by Rajeevan is good. Fights by V Venkat are decent. Production values by Sahu Garapati and Harish Peddi are grand.

Analysis: Bhagavanth Kesari film has two aspects to it. One is action orientation for the hero/villain conflict. And sentiment orientation between father-daughter. Director Anil Ravipudi has handled the sentiment part well. The conflict between the hero and the villain should have been effective. He should be appreciated by sticking the writing to just these two aspects and for not deviating into romance and entertainment aspects. Because of this, Bhagavanth Kesari has turned out to be a different film for both NBK and Anil Ravipudi. Despite of its flaws and inconsistencies, Bhagavanth Kesari has enough elements to cater to family crowds and action movie lovers.