Prabhas-starrer horror comedy crashes and burns, fails to earn even Rs 1 crore

Raja Saab crashed and burned at the toll booth

Raja Saab, the fantasy horror comedy directed by Prabhas and directed by Maruthi, released in theaters on January 9, just ahead of Pongal and Sankranti festivities. The film opened to a great response at the box office, netting Rs 100.60 crore worldwide and Rs 62.90 crore in India on its opening day; this includes Rs 9.15 crore from paid screenings on January 8. But the initial fireworks faded quickly as the film struggled to maintain momentum amid growing backlash for its uneven script, shaky logic, jarring dialogues and uninspiring direction. Some critics and viewers even called it “one of the biggest cinematic disappointments of recent times.”

The Raja Saab grossed Rs 140.70 crore in its first 11 days, with the original Telugu version contributing a whopping Rs 115.48 crore. The Hindi dubbed version failed to make a mark and earned a modest Rs 23.51 crore; The Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam versions, however, performed even worse, earning only Rs 1.09 crore, Rs 39 lakh and Rs 23 lakh respectively. According to entertainment streaming portal Sacnilk’s initial estimates, the Prabhas-starrer suffered a complete collapse at the box office on its 12th day, managing only Rs 73 lakh across all five languages.

Still reeling from the box office failure of Raja Saab, director Maruthi could not hide his disappointment and lashed out at the audience. Speaking at a post-screening event, he said: “People watch a film for about three hours on screen, but this is the culmination of almost three years of continuous effort, stress, learning and creative struggle. When such work is so easily mocked or dismissed, it hurts, even if we choose to remain silent. Audiences watched Raja Saab in a festive mood, expecting light entertainment. This may have prevented them from fully engaging with the deeper layers of the narrative.”

Besides Prabhas, Raja Saab stars Sanjay Dutt, Boman Irani, Nidhhi Agerwal, Malavika Mohanan, Riddhi Kumar and Zarina Wahab in key roles. The film is produced by TG Vishwa Prasad, Krithi Prasad and Ishan Saksena under the banners of People Media Factory and IVY Entertainment. Originally scheduled to release on April 10 and then on December 5 last year, the horror-comedy was postponed multiple times due to lengthy post-production and VFX work.

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