In Rana Naidu, the life of the eponymous protagonist turns upside down when his estranged father gets released from prison and wishes to reunite with his family. The series is now streaming on Netflix.
Warning: This article contains heavy spoilers
Plot summary
Rana Naidu is a fixer for celebrities, which means he solves all sorts of problems for rich and famous people at any time of the day. He lives with his wife, Naina, who is a former actress, and their two children, Nitya and Ani.
Rana shares a close bond with a politician, OB, who is like a father to Rana; he does favors for these famous people, who then find themselves in OB’s debt. Rana’s two subordinates, Srini and Lara, aid him in his work.
Rana’s father, Naga, gets released from prison early and comes to Mumbai in hopes of reuniting with his three sons. Rana’s older brother, Tej, used to be a stuntman. He now suffers from Parkinson’s disease because Naga pushed him beyond his limits to do stunts in the past.
While Tej now runs a studio, Jaffa, Rana’s younger brother, is still haunted by his past. He was molested by a god-man, Maharaj Vijaywada, in his childhood. He also went to rehab because he turned into an alcoholic.
Before coming to meet his sons, Naga pays Vijaywada a visit and threatens to kill him if he does not compensate Jaffa. As a result, Vijayawada pays Jaffa ₹3 crores in compensation.
Naga introduces his sons to his fourth son, Arjun. Jaffa is more than happy to see Naga, and even Tej welcomes him back, setting aside his trepidation. However, Rana is furious to see their father and warns him to stay away from his family.
Rana gets a new assignment — he has to report to a builder named Farzad whether his lover, Mandira, is cheating on him. Rana knows Mandira, who tries to seduce him multiple times, causing misunderstandings between Naina and Rana. Naina then goes behind Rana’s back and introduces their children to Naga.
Rana’s old friend and a famous actor, Prince, asks for his help when a woman he slept with, Chandini, threatens to leak their sex tape. Rana gets hold of the tape, but not without helping Chandini get what she needed.
Jaffa gets the compensation money, but he starts drinking again. Meanwhile, OB’s health declines as he starts hallucinating and losing his memory, and tensions rise between Naina and Rana when Rana stops being there for his family and refuses to tell her anything about his work.
Rana keeps rejecting his father’s olive branches. Naga wants to get close to his family and start over, but Rana is not ready to forget the past.
When Naga was in prison, he gave the CBI information about Surya’s gang, forcing Surya into hiding, in exchange for getting five years reduced from his sentence. Naga was in prison for killing a girl, but he continues to claim that he had nothing to do with the murder.
Eijaz Sheikh, the CBI officer Naga worked with, visits him again. He wants Naga to help him send Prince to prison, as he knows that Prince is the man who killed the girl and framed Naga. He further informs Naga that it was Rana who helped Prince get away with the murder.
Naga confronts Rana about the same, but Rana does not regret sending his father to prison for 15 years and refuses to apologize. Naga then starts working with Eijaz to get Prince’s confession.
Tej starts dating his physiotherapist, Ana, but later finds out that she is married. He also discovers that her husband physically abuses her and beats up her husband. Ana then confesses her love for him, and the two start dating.
Nitya starts liking their neighbor’s trainee, Rehaan. Their neighbor is Toofan, a famous rapper, who seeks Rana’s help to pacify Rehaan’s mother. His mother is an addict, and Toofan wants to help Rehaan grow as an artist away from her.
The job does not go as planned, and Rehaan’s mother gets killed by her suppliers. Toofan adopts Rehaan, and Rana takes the blame for the job going wrong, as he does not want Rehaan to find out that his mother was also a drug dealer.
Rehaan forces himself on Nitya when she meets him, and Rana takes him away to threaten him with a gun, upsetting Nitya. She goes to meet Rehaan secretly, but he is scared of Rana and informs her parents of her whereabouts.
Rana finds out that Naga is working with Eijaz, who is a dangerous officer; he is honest and goes to extreme lengths to catch the criminals he targets. Srini drugs Eijaz and records a video of him that makes it look like he has been publicly harassing women.
Rana then blackmails Eijaz to drop the case, but Eijaz refuses to do that. Eventually, Rana asks a corrupt agent, Sujoy, who has been working for him for a long time, to get Eijaz suspended with the help of the video.
Naga meets a woman named Tara, who attends Jaffa’s housewarming party but leaves when Naga pulls out a gun. Nitya and Ani also attend the party without telling their parents, which ends with Jaffa trying to burn his new house.
When Rana arrives there and finds Nitya drunk, he tries to shoot Naga but fails to kill him. Furthermore, he ends up pushing his family away once again.
It is revealed that 15 years ago, Rana was working for Surya, who was Hyderbad’s biggest gangster. Prince was moving to Mumbai, and Rana wanted to go with him to get away from Naga, who had also stolen from Surya, but Surya forbade Rana from leaving.
That night, Prince, under the influence, ended up accidentally shooting and killing Surya’s lover, Deeya, with Naga’s gun that Naga had gifted him. Rana framed his father for the murder in exchange for Prince taking him to Mumbai.
In the present, Naga wears a wire, according to Eijaz’s plan, and meets Prince, who has been guilty for the past 15 years. He promises to make a film with Naga and share the profits with him to ease his guilt. He gets drunk with Naga and confesses his crime.
Rana knows that he is incapable of killing his own father. OB advises him to find someone who hates Naga just as much as he does to do the job, which results in Rana going to Hyderabad to meet Surya.
He promises to get Surya, who is a wanted man in India, out of the country and give him a huge sum of money in exchange for killing Naga. Surya is a dangerous man, as on his way to Mumbai, Surya kills his own wife.
Sujoy cannot bring himself to get Eijaz suspended, even when Rana threatens his family. Once Eijaz gets the confession, he tells Naga that he has been working for years to apprehend Prince, OB, and Rana.
When Naga hears that Eijaz would not even spare Rana, he kills him and leaves his body to rot in his house. He also makes amends with Tara and starts a relationship with her.
With growing tensions in both his personal and professional life, Rana ends up cheating on Naina with Mandira.
Rana meets up with his two brothers to celebrate the birthday of their dead sister, who was also named Nitya. The three of them loved her, and Rana blames Naga for Nitya’s death.
She killed herself when she was 15 because she got pregnant and was too scared to tell anyone; their mother had died by that time, and Naga was never around to notice. When Rana tells her story to his daughter, she finally understands her father’s actions.
Rana Naidu ending explained in detail:
Does Naga die?
Surya is all set to kill Naga. Rana takes Naina to a restaurant to create a strong alibi, while Surya kidnaps Naga and Tara. He tells Naga that it was Rana who brought him to Mumbai to kill him and proceeds to murder Tara first.
Naga tries to talk Surya out of killing him, but he does not listen. However, he agrees to smoke one last cigarette with Naga. While reminiscing about their past, Naga realizes that Surya wants to murder him because he thinks Naga killed Deeya, his lover.
Naga tells him the truth about Deeya’s death, and the two pay Prince a visit. Surya and Naga kill Prince but spare his son. They make it look like Prince took his own life.
Ani, who was supposed to go to an awards show with Prince, discovers his body. Naga comes to warn Rana that Surya is now hunting him, which leads to Rana moving his family to a hotel without giving Naina an explanation for the same.
The police question Naga while investigating Prince’s death, but Nyla, Arjun’s mother, comes to his rescue and claims that he was with her at the time of the death.
What happened to Rana in the past?
Jaffa finds out that Vijaywada is in Mumbai and loses control. He gets drunk and follows Vijaywada’s car, threatening to shoot him. They get in an accident, and Jaffa ends up unintentionally shooting him.
He brings an injured Vijaywada to Tej’s studio, where Rana is also called. The brothers do not know whether to help Vijaywada or not. Ana is also there and wants to call for help, but Rana sends her away.
Arjun shows up at the studio and helps his step-brothers, who now see him as one of them. Vijaywada tries manipulating Jaffa and then Tej, who ends up calling the ambulance. Naina also comes to the studio, as she figures out that Rana is there.
When she recognizes Vijaywada, she decides to support her husband. Tej, who is now convinced that Rana will save Vijaywada’s life, and Naina send the ambulance away. As a result, Vijaywada starts talking about the past.
It is then revealed that Vijaywada also molested Rana, along with Jaffa, when he was young, but Rana never told anyone. An angry Rana shoots him dead. He then cries his heart out as Naina consoles him.
What happens after Vijaywada’s death?
Surya’s henchman, Salim, steals the money that Rana gave him for killing Naga, and the media also finds out that Surya, one of the most wanted criminals, is currently in Mumbai. Rana finds Salim and kills him once he tells him about Surya’s whereabouts.
Meanwhile, Sujoy discovers Eijaz’s body and the proof that he had gathered to send Rana to prison. He then threatens Rana and asks him to find out the person responsible for Eijaz’s death.
Jaffa no longer wants Naga to stay with him. Naga meets Naina, who tells him what happened to Rana in the past. She also holds him accountable for Rana’s pain and asks Naga to leave.
Ana wants to be with Tej, but before that, she wants him to tell the police everything that happened in the studio that day. Tej loves her, but he cannot go against his family.
In the middle of all this, OB’s wife wants to adopt Prince’s son, but OB, who had surgery and is finally healthy, is not willing to do that. He then finds out that his wife’s sister, Kavya, who has been sleeping with him, is pregnant with his child and does not want to abort it.
Naga asks Rana to meet him. The son blames his father for the current condition of their family and expresses his hatred toward him. Rana believes that he raised them in filth and abandoned them in filth.
Naga acknowledges that he did not give his family the money that he stole from Surya in the past and left them to fend for themselves because he knew that Rana, his favorite son, was capable of taking care of all of them on his own.
Does Naga leave?
Since everyone wants Naga to leave, he is ready to go away, but he wants Rana to give him some money. Rana refuses, and Naga sides with Surya. Srini, who had been looking for Surya, gets abducted by him.
Rana has to pay Surya the money that Salim stole from him and arrange for him to get out of the country in exchange for Srini’s safety. Rana does all this, and at the airstrip, where the exchange is supposed to happen, Rana finds out that Naga is working with Surya.
However, Naga was only pretending to work with Surya to ensure Rana’s safety. Surya and his henchman try to kill Naga and Rana, but Rana manages to kill Surya. He then calls Sujoy there and gives him a gunshot wound.
Sujoy can now claim that he caught Surya, a wanted criminal who also killed Eijaz, and that when he tried to arrest him, Surya shot him, leaving Sujoy no choice but to kill him.
After saving each other, Rana and Naga finally part ways, with Rana telling Naga not to be seen in Mumbai again. Naga leaves for Kathmandu, but there seems to be hope for them, as Rana tells Naga that he will call him father some other day and gives him some money.
Rana apologizes to Naina for the way he has been treating her and declares his love for his family. He believes that Naga will return someday and cause trouble again, so he wants them to be united. Naina seems to forgive him, as she lies down next to him and embraces him.
Also Read: Luther: The Fallen Sun ending explained: Does John catch the killer?
