‘The intellectuals who didn’t understand it are…’

Negative reviews of Raja Saab director Maruthi

Fantasy horror comedy The Raja Saab starring Prabhas was released in theaters on January 9 and was met with a grand opening. The Maruthi directorial collected Rs 112 crore worldwide on its first day of release, becoming the sixth Prabhas film to reach Rs 100 crore opening after Baahubali 2, Saaho, Adipurush, Salaar and Kalki 2898 AD. However, Raja Saab is also receiving huge criticism from a section of the audience and critics for its weak script, pointless story, cringe-worthy dialogues and messy direction; some even call it “one of the biggest disappointments in cinema.”

The makers responded to the negative response to the film by holding a press conference in Hyderabad on Saturday. Director Mauthi said, “Intellectuals are discussing various parts of the film and those who do not understand it are cursing us. I have seen very mixed reactions. My only request from everyone is not to approach the film with prejudices and decide on the outcome.” TG Vishwa Prasad, who bankrolled the film under the banner People Media Factory, added: “We are very happy. We expected it to cross Rs 100 billion but it earned Rs 112 billion. Many families and children are coming to the theaters and appreciating it. A few intellectuals are giving mixed feedback and going very deep into the story.”

Maruthi and Prasad also talked about the scenes featuring Prabhas in the old look, which were featured in the trailer but were missing from the film, leaving fans disappointed. The director said, “Prabhas fans were not disappointed with the film but they were not satisfied either. Because we showed him in the trailer with an old look, with attitude and swagger. While looking for that look, the fans’ brains could not process the story I showed. Keeping this in mind, I sat down last night to make the second half of the film sharper and include the missing scenes from today’s 6 pm show. I am sure the 8-9 minute episode will be released. It is mind-blowing.”

“The film is missing 4 minutes of content of Prabhas in his old avatar. Due to an unfortunate incident a week ago and the server being down, we had taken the printout but it required cleaning and minor corrections. We did that and have now sent it to the theatres,” the producer explained the reason why such scenes were missing from the film.

The production house also shared on its social media accounts that new scenes will be added starting from Saturday evening. “WHAT YOU’VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR. THE OLD TRANSITION SERIES is finally being added starting with today’s evening showings,” the post read. Raja Saab also stars Sanjay Dutt, Boman Irani, Nidhhi Agerwal, Malavika Mohanan, Riddhi Kumar and Zarina Wahab.

READ | Raja Saab box office day 1: Prabhas scores sixth Rs 100 crore opening, but Hindi version earns only Rs…