Despite the massive hype surrounding the “Rebel Star,” the box office trajectory for director Maruthi’s The Raja Saab has taken a sharp downward turn. After hitting theatres on January 9, 2026, the horror-comedy has failed to resonate with the Hindi-speaking audience, marking one of the steepest declines for a Prabhas starrer in recent years.
While the film opened to packed houses in the Telugu states, the Hindi belt has largely rejected the film’s tonal inconsistencies. As of Tuesday, the film appears to be heading toward an early exit from the theatres, with trade analysts predicting a dismal lifetime run.
The Hindi version of The Raja Saab struggled right from the opening gate. Despite a wide release across North India, the film managed to collect only 13 crore over its first three days. For an actor who holds records for 100-crore opening days, a 13-crore weekend in the Hindi market is a significant blow to his “Pan-India” stardom.
The lack of a strong “mass” hook and the film’s reliance on localized humour—which often gets lost in translation—resulted in poor footfalls at multiplexes in Delhi, Mumbai, and Punjab.
In the world of box office scouting, the “First Monday” is the ultimate indicator of a film’s longevity. For The Raja Saab, the results are catastrophic. On its first Monday, the film’s Hindi collection plummeted to a mere 1.75 crore.
This 80% drop from the Sunday numbers indicates a complete lack of “word-of-mouth” support. It is now evident that the Hindi audience has opted for other holdover releases or is waiting for the film to arrive on OTT platforms. Based on current trends, the Hindi box office total for The Raja Saab is unlikely to cross the 25 crore mark.
While the Hindi belt is the biggest disappointment, the overall numbers across all languages (Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, and Kannada) offer a slightly better, yet concerning, picture. The film collected 115 crore in its first weekend.
While 115 crore sounds substantial, it is nearly 40% lower than the opening weekend of Prabhas’ previous outings like Kalki 2898 AD or Salaar. The primary culprit? Mixed to negative reviews.
“The film tries to be too many things at once,” says a leading film critic. “It wavers between slapstick comedy and gothic horror, leaving the audience confused. Even Prabhas’ undeniable charm cannot save a script that lacks a cohesive backbone.”
With the film already losing steam on weekdays, the road ahead looks bleak. Most theatres have already started reducing show counts to make room for mid-budget regional films that are performing better on a “per-screen” basis.
The crash of The Raja Saab serves as a wake-up call for filmmakers. It proves that a “Star Name” alone cannot carry a film if the content fails to bridge cultural and linguistic gaps. While the film will likely recover a significant portion of its budget through digital and satellite rights, its theatrical run remains a major disappointment for exhibitors.
We predict that the film’s full-run collection will struggle to crawl toward the 160 crore mark in all languages, a far cry from the 500-crore dreams the makers initially envisioned.
