The Raja Saab review and release live updates: Prabhas’ film gets panned online, yet earns ₹15 crore on day 1

By 4 pm on its opening day, The Raja Saab has earned ₹15 crore net in India. It is steadily climbing towards a respectable opening day mark pan India.

A video from a day 1 show of The Raja Saab from Bahrain shows fans of Prabhas dancing next to the screen and beating dhols as the end credits roll on the big screen.

The Raja Saab saw record-setting pace with its collections for paid premieres in the US and Canada, with reports stating the film not just out-paced Avatar: Fire and Ash in North America, but earned over $1 million in previews.

According to Sacnilk, The Raja Saab has started well, earning ₹14.39 crore net in India by 3 pm on its opening day. It registered occupancy of over 50% for its morning shows in Telugu.

Prabhas fans predict The Raja Saab will be a blockbuster based on early trends. Many on X (formerly Twitter) predicted the film can earn ₹500 crore in India and over ₹1000 crore worldwide.

As per Sacnilk.com, by 2pm on Friday, the film has collected ₹12.27 crore.

“Without pan-India big directors, Prabhas anna is just another Salman Khan. Only hope left now, the Vanga lottery!” read a review of the movie. The Sandeep Reddy Vanga film that Prabhas will be seen in next is Spirit.

Film critic Amutha Bharathi tweeted, “Although #TheRajaSaab has flaws, the idea was very unique and a fresh one 🤝

#Prabhas energy kept the film alive & some comical portions worked. pre interval & the lead to next part was an interesting moment. Also Prabhas elevation at few moments was theatrical fest👌

If the team could have focused on the screenplay & VFX more, could have emerged as theatre worthy stuff !!”

Film trade tracker Ramesh Bala tweeted, “#TheRajaSaab [3.25/5]

A horror-fantasy that builds patiently and delivers decisively on the big screen. 🔥

#Prabhas anchors the film with a composed screen presence, grounding the spectacle with emotional depth. ❤️

@MalavikaM_ and @AgerwalNidhhi both look gorgeous and have performed well. 👍

Sanjay Dutt’s flashback and Boman Irani’s pivotal sequence bring weight, menace, and loud theatre-applause moments. 💥

@MusicThaman’s music stands out. 🔥

The interval block serves as a clean turning point, raising the stakes with whistle-worthy hero–villain tension.

The final 40 minutes elevate the experience with top-notch visuals and a grand, immersive climax. 🌋

A genre film—best enjoyed in theatres for its scale, sound, and atmosphere.”

Another review was more positive. “#TheRajaSaab : Sankranti Winner 🏆 horror-romantic comedy that works as an entertainer. 1st half with comedy, romance & Rebel saab song with #Prabhas’ comic timing standing out. #SanjayDutt interval 🧨. Hospital scene & Climax🦖too good. Rebel Feast,” it read.

Trade analyst Rohit Jaiswal gave a scathing review to the movie. “Movie Review – The Raja Saab 1.5*/5 The Raja Saab is a Royal Disaster Absolute Embarrassment…. This isn’t a film, it’s a loud, lazy waste of time that mistakes noise for cinema and scale for substance. The script feels AI-generated, no soul just endless scenes stitched together…

Let’s be clear,this is NOT on Prabhas. The man shows up but the film doesn’t. He’s trapped in a clueless mess that neither understands his stardom nor gives him anything worth performing.

The horror-comedy angle is not funny, not scary, VFX looks unfinished, sets look fake, editing feels accidental, and the background score keeps shouting to hide the emptiness……

Overall The Raja Saab is a soulless spectacle that insults the audience and squanders a superstar. Prabhas deserved better…..So did cinema….

The makers of The Raja Saab confirmed a sequel at the film’s end with Prabhas dressed as a joker in a scene. The title of the sequel has been revealed as Raja Saab: Circus 1935. No other details have been shared so far.

The Raja Saab opened to over 50% occupancy for its morning shows on Friday, with the figure as high as 71% for Telugu shows in Hyderabad. The Hindi version disappointed with a dismal 7.4% occupancy.

One particular scene in The Raja Saab has fans of Prabhs hailing him for his acting skills. A sequence in the hospital has moved fans with many calling it “Prabhas’ career best performance.”

The early reviews for The Raja Saab are arriving, and they are all mixed, with praise for Prabhas but criticism for the VFX, story, and direction. Grok summarises the reviews saying, “ratings average around 2-3/5.”

The hiked ticket prices for The Raja Saab in Telangana mean the average ticket price in several cities is over ₹300, leading to complaints from fans. “I spent more money on Raja Saab to watch on a standard screen than I did for Avatar Fire & Ash in both IMAX 3D and Dolby Cinema 3D combined,” wrote one fan on X.

After a sluggish start to ticket sales pre-releases, Prabhas’ The Raja Saab has hit the ground running. By noon on Friday, the film was selling 32K tickets per hour on BookMyShow, a very impressive number.

A screengrab of an alleged negative review of The Raja Saab from Arshad Warsi was being widely circulated on social media on Friday. It claimed the actor called for Prabhas to retire and dissed the film. However, a Grok fact check revealed the screengrab was fake as Arshad had not posted about the film on his social media.

Early reviews of The Raja Saab from viewers have positive things about Sanjay Dutt, who plays a pivotal role in the film. Reviewers say the veteran actor ‘shines’ and is the film’s ‘highlight’.

The Raja Saab ended its day 1 advance booking with gross of ₹6.8 crore from Andhra Pradesh, a new record for the state. The previous record belonged to Allu Arjun’s Pushpa 2.

Prabhas fans danced, cheered, and threw confetti inside theatres screening The Raja Saab on Friday the moment their star’s entry scene arrived. Videos of the moment are surfacing on social media

Viewers who have watched the morning shows of Prabhas’ The Raja Saab say that while the second half is better, the film’s comedy fails to pack a punch. “Second half somewhat better but my god this is some of the worst editing & directing in recent times for me. Only Prabhas was in his flow, Zarina Wahab was terrific, and the production design was very nice. You messed up severely if the comedy in a comedy film doesn’t work,” read a Twitter review.

Vijay’s Jana Nayagan was originally slated to release on January 9, the same day as Prabhas’ The Raja Saab. But the Tamil film was postponed after a delay in CBFC certification. This led to The Raja Saab receiving 250 extra screens in Tamil Nadu, as per reports.

Prabhas’ films usually do well in the Hindi belt, with Hindi versions routinely getting double digit starts. However, The Raja Saab’s buzz has been low, with a projected ₹6-7 crore opening for the film’s Hindi dub.