Naayak

Naayak
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	V. V. Vinayak
Produced by	DVV Danayya, S. Radha Krishna
Screenplay by	Akula Siva
Story by	Akula Siva
Starring	Ram Charan Kajal Aggarwal Amala Paul
Music by	S. Thaman
Cinematography	Chota K. Naidu
Edited by	Gautham Raju
Production company	Universal Media
Distributed by	Errabus Inc. (United Kingdom & Europe) Universal Media (United States)
Release date	9 January 2013 (2013-01-09)
Running time	152 minutes
Country	India
Language	Telugu
Budget	₹350 million
Box office	₹465 million

Naayak (English: Leader) is a 2013 Indian Telugu-language masala film written by Akula Siva and directed by V. V. Vinayak. The film was jointly produced by DVV Danayya and S. Radhakrishna under the banner Universal Media. The film features Ram Charan, Kajal Aggarwal and Amala Paul in the lead roles. S. Thaman composed the film's soundtrack and background score. Chota K. Naidu undertook the cinematography and Gautham Raju was the film's editor.

The film features Ram Charan in dual roles: Cherry, a software engineer in Hyderabad, and Siddharth Naayak, an inspiring young leader in Kolkata fighting against an evil politician named Rawat. The film revolves around Cherry assisting Siddharth in the triumph of good over evil after their paths cross.

Production began on 9 November 2011, and principal photography began on 7 February 2012. The film was extensively shot in Hyderabad and Kolkata, while a couple of the songs were shot in Dubai, Iceland, and Slovenia, making Naayak the first Indian film to be shot in Slovenia. Filming ended on 29 December 2012.

Released during the season of the Makar Sankranti festival on 9 January 2013, on 1600 screens worldwide, the film received generally positive reviews from critics and was commercially successful. The film was dubbed into Tamil and Malayalam with the same title. It was also dubbed in Hindi under the title Double Attack by Goldmines Telefilms in the same year. The film was loosely remade into Bengali (Bangladesh) as Hero: The Superstar in 2014.

Siddharth Naayak kills Central Minister Rawat's brother, Taxi Seth, and his henchmen to save three men. Rawat orders a CBI Officer to catch the criminal so that he may be executed. In CgTrix, Hyderabad there works a software engineer, Cherry, who is a dead ringer for Siddharth. Cherry's uncle Jilebi, the CEO of CgTrix, unexpectedly runs into trouble, angering the local Don, Babji. Cherry saves Jilebi from Babji by manipulation, but in the process becomes romantically interested in Babji's sister, Madhu. After Cherry saves several children from a mafia don, Madhu reciprocates his love. This angers Babji and he goes to kill Cherry, but is shocked when he sees what he thinks is Cherry assassinating the DGP of West Bengal. The CBI Officer also misunderstands, believing that Cherry is responsible for the two murders, although Siddharth is the real murderer. With Jilebi, the CBI Officer goes to Kumbh Mela at Varanasi in pursuit of Cherry. As Rawat is offering holy rituals, the CBI Officer catches Cherry and holds him, however Siddharth rises from the Ganges and stabs Rawat with a trident, after which he fights with all of Rawat's guards. As he is about to kill Rawat, the CBI Officer attacks him with a taser and arrests him, thereby exonerating Cherry.