'The Raja Saab' struggles to recover costs; suffers huge loss
"The Raja Saab," a horror-comedy directed by Maruthi and starring Prabhas, Sanjay Dutt, Malavika Mohanan, and more, hit theaters on January 9.
Despite an exciting start with ₹100 crore worldwide on opening, the film quickly lost steam at the box office.
In numbers:
By day nine in India, the movie had earned ₹136.75 crore—about a third of its reported ₹350-₹400 crore budget.
The first week looked decent (India: around ₹130-₹133 crore), but daily earnings fell sharply after that, dropping to only ₹3.5 crore and ₹3 crore on days eight and nine.
Global interest fizzles out
Things weren't much better overseas: in North America, "The Raja Saab" had grossed $2.33 million till Friday but couldn't keep up momentum.
By day nine, Telugu screenings saw just 32% occupancy—a clear sign that buzz around the film faded fast among audiences everywhere.