Mrugaraju is a 2001 Tollywood film which was written and directed by Gunasekhar based on English film The Ghost and the Darkness. It stars Chiranjeevi, Simran, Sanghavi and Nagendra Babu. Mani Sharma composed music for this film. The film has been dubbed in Tamil with the title Vettaikkaaran.The Hindi version of this is available named "Rakshak, The Protector".In a jungle, there lives a man-eating lion. The latest victim of lions havoc is the death of the chief engineer who is constructing the rail bridge. The Railway department asks Aishwarya (Simran) to go on the mission of constructing the bridge. Even after Aishwarya resumes the duty, Lion starts terrorizing the crew of the construction team.

Director: Gunasekhar