Leader is the story of Arjun Prasad (Rana), son of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Sanjeevayya (Suman). Sanjeevayya suddenly dies in a bomb blast and his relative Dhanunjay (Subbaraju) eyes the CM post. Arjun Prasad who is in US comes to Hyderabad for funeral. He realizes that his CM father was a corrupt person and his mother (Suhasini) asks him to enter politics to clean the system. Rest of the story is how Arjun fights corruption and makes a difference.
The movie had its share of controversies before release. There were rumors that it is about former CM YS Raja Shekar Reddy but nothing came closer to truth. Leader is the debut movie of Daggubati scion, Rana. There was tremendous hype surrounding the movie and also positive buzz due to Sekhar Kammula’s image. The movie had a decent run at the box office. However, Rana’s debut did not reach up to the hype as he was shown very subtly in the movie.