Development

In February 2019, director Bhaskar teamed up with Akhil for GA2 Pictures production under Bunny Vasu.^[3] In May 2019, the film was officially launched at Film Nagar Temple, Hyderabad with a pooja ceremony. The music is composed by Gopi Sunder while V. Manikandan and Marthand K. Venkatesh were signed as the cinematographer and editor respectively. Manikandan later replaced by Pradeesh Varma, due to the former's exit citing schedule conflicts.^[4] Director Vasu Varma is co-producing along with Bunny Vas.^[5][6] The title was announced as Most Eligible Bachelor in February 2020.^[7] The film is presented by Allu Aravind of Geetha Arts.

Casting

The film's casting crew auditioned over 100 actresses and models for leading actress role.^[8] Pooja Hegde and Eesha Rebba were finalized as the leads in August 2019.^[9] Murali Sharma, Vennela Kishore, Jayaprakash, Pragathi and Aamani were cast in supporting role^[2] Akkineni's role was Harsha, an NRI (non-resident Indian) while Pooja Hegde featured as a stand-up comedian named Vibha.^[10] In an interview with The Indian Express, Akhil told about the film that "We tried perfecting it more and more, and it has come to where it is today because of the time we had. I am so happy that finally after two years I am having a release".^[11]

Filming

The principal photography of the film began in July 2019 in Hyderabad.^[12] Hegde joined the sets in September 2019.^[13] The film is shot extensively in major portions of New York in mid-January 2020. Filming took place in Hyderabad in mid-March 2020, however, came to a halt after Akkineni was injured in the sets.^[14] Filming was further delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in India. Filming was resumed in September 2020.^[15] Akkineni and Hegde joined the shoot the same month.^[16][17] The filming was completed in March 2021.

Home media

In late September, the release date was rescheduled to 15 October 2021, on the occasion of Dussehra.^[28] Digital streaming rights of the film were acquired by both aha and Netflix. The film was premiered on aha^[29] on 19 November 2021 while it premiered on Netflix on 23 November 2021.^[30][31]

Critical response

Critics praised the performances of the Pooja Hegde and Akhil Akkineni.^[32][33]

The film opened to positive reviews with critics praising casts performances (particularly Pooja Hegde and Akhil Akkineni), story, and music.^[34] Neeshita Nyayapati of The Times of India gave a rating of 3 out of 5 and cited it as "a breezy rom-com that lacks emotional depth". She further added that "Most Eligible Bachelor remains the story of a man who thinks he has it all to make a good husband and a woman giving him a reality check.".^[35] A critic of Sify too cited the same and rated it 2.75 out of 5, writing " Most Eligible Bachelor looks patchy, and goes all directions but Gopi Sundar's lilting songs and feel-good romantic moments save it".^[36] Firstpost also gave a rating of 3 out of 5, praising Bhaskar's work but giving mixed response to the story and screenplay.^[37] In their review, The Hans India wrote that "Most Eligible Bachelor has a thin storyline but it has got a lot of scopes to explore. Director Bhaskar who made a comeback to Tollywood is already known for dealing with strong yet sensitive emotions. However, for this project, the director put his focus on delivering the entertainment rather than pulling the project off with emotions. The first half looks fun and entertaining with a lot of interesting elements. However, the second half falls flat with weak writing and it gets into a preachy mode".^[38] The News Minute's Balakrishna Ganeshan cited that "the film makes progressive take on arranged marriage with a few misses", giving a rating of 3 out of 5.^[39]

Writing for Cinema Express, Ram Venkat Srikar wrote that the romance is boring and the comedy is forgettable. Srikar felt that most of the film's second half feels like a spin-off to the filmmaker's 2010 film Orange. He further wrote: "Most Eligible Bachelor holds its intentions in high regard and in the process, ends up being a tiring watch".^[40] The Hindu's Sangeetha Devi Dundoo felt that "Most Eligible Bachelor has technical finesse, a pleasing lead pair, offers a few laughs and hummable songs, but doesn’t sweep you off your feet. Pooja Hegde is lovely as Vibha and shows that she has more acting potential waiting to be tapped. Akhil Akkineni shows a lot of improvement as an actor and is good as Harsha. Among the melee of supporting actors, only Murali Sharma stands out."^[41]

J Jagannath of Business Standard opined that the director seems to have set out to write an Alice Munro-like story only to end up with something straight out of the slushpile every production house in this country is bombarded with, adding that "The movie has the soul and ambience of a fitting room at Zara. Apart from Akhil, Pradeesh Varma’s eye-pleasing cinematography and Gopi Sundar’s peppy soundtrack are the movie’s redeeming factors".^[42] Jeevi of Idlebrain in his review stated – "The climax of the film is preachy with Bommarillu Bhaskar trying to recreate the climax from his classic Bommarillu. Most Eligible Bachelor is not a bad film and it's better than most of the recent releases. However, it falls short of being a good film. The packaging of the film, music and Dasara holidays will do good for the film".^[43]

Box office

On the opening day, the film collected a gross collection of ₹8 crore worldwide.^[44] It collected a gross of ₹3 crore worldwide, on its second day. Thus, making the worldwide total two-days box office collection as ₹11 crore.^[45] Its third day gross collection was ₹15 crore.^[46] At the Australian box office, the film collected a gross of A$60,150 in the first three days. By the second day of release, it has collected a gross of $450,000 at the United States box office.^[47] After one week of its release, the total worldwide gross collections of the film were ₹20 crore.^[48][49] The film grossed ₹50 crore worldwide after 17 days of its release and is a commercial success.^[50]