Akkineni Nagarjuna & Mahesh Bhatt Movies Together List — 3 Films
Complete Movies List & Collaboration History
Last updated: 2026-06-04 · Data sources: Wikipedia, TMDB
Akkineni Nagarjuna and Mahesh Bhatt appeared together in 3 Hindi films between 1994 and 1998. Their highest-rated collaboration was Angaaray (1998 — 4.5/10). Films span Criminal (1994) through Angaaray (1998).
The Akkineni Nagarjuna & Mahesh Bhatt partnership
From Criminal (1994) to Angaaray (1998). The played out closed with Angaaray in 1998. It started with Criminal (1994).
The shape of the work
Akkineni Nagarjuna acted in every film; Mahesh Bhatt directed all of them.
Partnership facts
- Nagarjuna was already a huge star in Telugu when he decided to launch his own Hindi production company. He personally called Mahesh Bhatt to direct 'Criminal' (1994) because he wanted a gritty, urban thriller — not a typical song-and-dance Bollywood film.
- On the set of 'Criminal' (1994), Bhatt pushed Nagarjuna to drop his polished, romantic-hero mannerisms. He made him rehearse scenes in a single take with no retakes — a method that Nagarjuna later said 'broke my old habits and made me a real actor in Hindi.'
- The success of 'Criminal' (1994) directly led to the 1995 Telugu remake 'Criminal' (with Nagarjuna again, but directed by Ram Gopal Varma). That Telugu version became a cult hit in the South and spawned a wave of psychological crime thrillers in Telugu cinema through the late 1990s.
- During the making of 'Angaaray' (1998), Nagarjuna and Bhatt had a massive creative fight over the climax. Bhatt wanted a bleak ending; Nagarjuna insisted on a heroic one. They didn't speak for three days. Eventually, Bhatt gave in — but the film flopped, and they never worked together again.
- Mahesh Bhatt once said about Nagarjuna: 'He came to me as a star, but he left as an actor. I had to break his Telugu hero image to make him a believable criminal. He trusted me enough to let me do that.'
3 films across 1 decade
- Angaaray
- Criminal
The partnership in numbers
Partnership Pattern
3 films across 4 years represents consistent collaboration.
Language Distribution
Linguistic diversity: 2 languages, with Hindi being their primary medium.
Where each was in their career
After Angaaray, Akkineni Nagarjuna kept going for 82 more films; Mahesh Bhatt stepped back. By the time of Criminal, both already had careers — Akkineni Nagarjuna with 18 films, Mahesh Bhatt with 31.
Before Criminal, Akkineni Nagarjuna had starred in 18 films, including Varasudu (1993) and Varasudu (1993).
After Angaaray, Akkineni Nagarjuna went on to appear in 82 more films, including Jagadguru Adi Shankara (2013) and Jagadguru Adi Shankara (2013).
Before Criminal, Mahesh Bhatt had directed 31 films, including Arth (1982) and Saaransh (1984).
After Angaaray, Mahesh Bhatt went on to direct 17 more films, including Aashiqui 2 (2013) and Woh Lamhe (2006).
Collaboration Journey
A chronological view of Akkineni Nagarjuna & Mahesh Bhatt's professional partnership
Actors and musicians who worked on most of their films
Gulshan Grover is the through-line — cast on 2 of their 3 films.
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