The Raja Saab box office collection day 9: Prabhas-starrer horror comedy is a complete disaster, earns just Rs 3 crore

Headlined by Prabhas and directed by Maruthi, the fantasy horror comedy The Raja Saab hit theatres on January 9, ahead of the Pongal and Sankranti festivities. The film took a strong opening at the box office, raking in Rs 100.60 crore worldwide and Rs 62.90 crore net in India on its first day, including Rs 9.15 crore from paid previews on January 8. However, the Prabhas-starrer has struggled to maintain momentum since its opening, facing widespread criticism from both audiences and critics for its confusing screenplay, illogical narrative, awkward dialogues, and lacklustre direction.

In its first eight days, The Raja Saab collected Rs 133.75 crore net at the Indian box office. The film is seeing no signs of recovery even over its second weekend. On its second Saturday, the ninth day of release, the Prabhas-starrer earned just Rs 3 crore, down from Rs 3.5 crore on the preceding Friday, as per Sacnilk. This decline indicates that the film has been completely rejected by the audiences, and is now among the biggest box office failures of Prabhas' career, alongside Radhe Shyam, Saaho, and Adipurush.

The Raja Saab director Maruthi has blamed the audiences for the film's poor reception. Speaking at a post-release event, he said, "Audiences watch a film for about three hours on screen, but it is the result of nearly three years of relentless effort, stress, learning, and creative struggle. When such work is mocked or dismissed so easily, it does hurt, even if we choose to stay silent. Viewers watched The Raja Saab in a festive mood, expecting light entertainment. This may have stopped them from fully connecting with the deeper layers of the narrative."

Apart from Prabhas, The Raja Saab also stars Sanjay Dutt, Boman Irani, Nidhhi Agerwal, Malavika Mohanan, Riddhi Kumar and Zarina Wahab in pivotal roles. It is bankrolled by TG Vishwa Prasad and Krithi Prasad, and Ishan Saksena under their banners People Media Factory and IVY Entertainment. The horror comedy was initially slated to release on April 10 and December 5 last year, but was postponed due to multiple delays in its post-production and VFX work.

READ | AR Rahman breaks silence on his 'communal' remark controversy: 'Never wished to cause pain, India is my home'