Dear Comrade 2019

The film follows Bobby, Vijay Deverakonda, a leftist student union leader with a volatile temper who constantly collides with local politics. He clashes with Bulliah’s brother, a power broker whose harassment of a girl at his college pushes her to attempt suicide, setting a charged stage for his escalating actions.

On his way back from a brief confinement, he runs into Lilly, Rashmika Mandanna, a childhood friend who is also the cousin of his neighbor, Jaya Shruti Ramachandran. Bobby is drawn to her immediately, and what begins as a spark deepens into love. Lilly, however, counsels him to resolve conflicts through internal growth rather than more fighting, and shares a painful truth: her brother died in a college fight.

During Jaya’s wedding, Bobby musters the courage to confess his love, but Lilly rejects him. This rejection becomes a turning point, as Bobby resolves to curb his violence and channel his energy toward something constructive. Yet their relationship is tested again when Bobby is drawn into a brutal clash with Bulliah’s brother’s gang, resulting in the death of Bulliah’s brother and leaving Lilly to confront the consequences of violence.

Lilly urges Bobby to abandon his aggression and gives him an ultimatum: choose between his anger and her. In a moment of raw emotion, Bobby loses control and pushes Lilly out of a hospital, telling her to get lost. The act haunts him, and he eventually realises his grave mistake. He leaves home in search of inner peace and joins a group devoted to a project on sound healing, seeking a path away from violence.

Three years pass. Bobby and his team travel to Hyderabad to meet a doctor, where they unexpectedly encounter Jaya and her husband. They ask Bobby whether he has visited Lilly in the hospital. He learns that Lilly has suffered an accident, and he decides to help her heal by taking her on a road trip that rekindles their connection and focuses on repair rather than retreat.

Back home, Lilly returns to her routine, while a doctor warns her of hidden pain inside. Bobby hands her his digital voice recorder to listen to whenever she feels overwhelmed, a token of the messages he has kept over the years. The pair are invited to a friend’s wedding, and Lilly is impressed by the maturity Bobby has shown. She even asks about marriage, but Bobby replies that there’s no hurry.

In a revelation that shakes Lilly’s faith in the system, she reveals that she had stepped away from cricket. She later discovers a harsher truth: Lilly’s former teammate Rubina informs Bobby that Lilly’s national-team chances were blocked by Ramesh Rao, a powerful south-zone selector for the BCCI, who demanded she sleep with him in exchange for selection. Lilly refused to file a complaint at first, but Rubina’s account prompts a formal grievance, and Rao physically assaults both Lilly and Rubina.

Fueled by anger, Bobby confronts the injustice and finally confesses his remorse to Lilly, who is moved by his vulnerability. He takes her to the police to file the complaint against Rao. Lilly contemplates her future as a prospective groom approaches; Bobby pleads with her not to end their life together. She insists that she would forget him in a few years, a painful truth that pushes him away.

Bobby leaves Lilly, and she enters into an arranged marriage. Yet she clutches at hope, reaching for Bobby’s old voice recorder as if it might hold a last connection. A video of Bobby assaulting Rao goes viral, thrusting Lilly and her family into the glare of the media, and prompting the BCCI to appoint a committee to investigate the allegations.

The police arrest Bobby in the wake of the controversy, and Lilly is pressured to lie for his release. Her deposition before the BCCI committee reveals that she was not sexually harassed by Rao, which Rao himself publicly insults in court. In a fierce moment, Lilly attacks Rao and, in a bold turn, admits to having been harassed by him, using his position to threaten and manipulate. This admission rekindles their bond, and they choose to embrace their true selves once more. The film closes with Bobby dropping Lilly off at the National Cricket Academy for her practice, signaling a cautious path toward reconciliation and healing.