Nawab Cafe OTT Release Date and Platform: Rajeev Kanakala’s Family Drama Is Now Streaming on ETV Win

Nawab Cafe OTT Release Date and Streaming Platform

Nawab Cafe is available to stream exclusively on ETV Win from March 12, 2026. There is no confirmed premiere date on any other streaming service at this time.

What Is Nawab Cafe About?

Nawab Cafe is built around a 400-year-old Irani chai cafe in the Old City of Hyderabad, located near the Charminar, that one family has kept alive across generations. Ranganath, played by Rajeev Kanakala, is the current keeper of that legacy — a man who runs the place with quiet devotion and treats the cafe as something beyond a business. His son Raja, played by Shiva Kandukuri, has no interest in any of it. Raja is restless, wants to move abroad, and sees the cafe as a ceiling rather than a inheritance. Unexpected circumstances force Raja back into the business, and what he encounters — about the cafe, the customers, and his father — forms the film’s emotional spine.

Director Pramod Harsha, who also wrote the screenplay, drew the film’s identity from the lived culture of Hyderabad’s Irani chai houses rather than fictionalising the setting. The film is not based on a specific true story, but the social texture of Old City cafe culture runs through its backdrop authentically. One production detail worth noting: the film was originally titled Chai Waala before the Central Board of Film Certification raised objections to the name, leading the makers to rename it Nawab Cafe prior to release.

Nawab Cafe Cast and Crew

Rajeev Kanakala leads the film as Ranganath, the emotional anchor of the story. Shiva Kandukuri plays his son Raja, and Teju Ashwini features alongside them in a key role. The supporting cast includes Chaitanya Krishna, Rajkumar Kasireddy, and Vadlamani Srinivas. Music is composed by Prashanth R Vihari, with lyrics by Suresh Banisetti. Cinematography is by Kranthi Varlapalli, whose aerial shots around the Charminar area drew specific mention in early reviews as one of the film’s production highlights. The film is produced by Radha V Papudippu and Venkat R Papudippu.

Nawab Cafe Theatrical Box Office Collection

Nawab Cafe collected approximately ₹0.44 crore net across its theatrical run in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, per box office tracking data. The overseas collection was negligible. The short theatrical run — under three weeks — is consistent with limited-release family dramas where ETV Win serves as the intended primary audience window. This is the film’s real debut for most Telugu viewers.

Is Nawab Cafe Worth Watching on ETV Win?

Critical reception during the theatrical run was mixed. Several reviews flagged slow pacing and a narrative that loses focus in the second half. Hans India rated it 3/5 and described it as a wholesome family entertainer, while other publications were less generous with the screenplay’s structure. Rajeev Kanakala’s performance as Ranganath received the most consistent praise across the reviewing spectrum, with a few critics calling it among his strongest character work. Prashanth R Vihari‘s music was similarly cited as one of the film’s genuine strengths.

Nawab Cafe is positioned for Telugu audiences who find Hyderabad’s Old City culture emotionally resonant and are comfortable with a slow, dialogue-driven family drama. The Irani chai setting and the father-son generational conflict are the film’s strongest elements, and those two things do the most work. No significant Reddit or social media discourse emerged around the theatrical release, so audience expectations going into the OTT version are relatively unformed — which is not always a disadvantage for a film of this kind.