Cast: Prabhas, Sanjay Dutt, Boman Irani, Malavika Mohanan, Nidhhi Agerwal, Riddhi Kumar, Zarina Wahab, P. Samuthirakani, VTV Ganesh, Satya, Prabhas Sreenu, Saptagiri
Director: Maruthi Dasari
Producers: T. G. Vishwa Prasad, Vivek Kuchibotla, Ishan Saksena
Music: Thaman S
Runtime: 183 Minutes
Release Date: January 9, 2026
Story Overview
Raja Saab (Prabhas) lives with his grandmother Gangamma (Zarina Wahab), who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease. Despite her fading memory, she constantly yearns for her long-lost husband, Kanakaraju (Sanjay Dutt). When Raja discovers that his grandfather was recently spotted in Hyderabad, he travels to find him and reunite his family.
In Hyderabad, Raja encounters three women: Riddhi Kumar plays his childhood friend, Nidhhi Agerwal appears as a nun who catches his eye, and Malavika Mohanan enters as Bhairavi. His search leads him to a haunted palace in Narsapur forest, where he discovers his grandfather has been dead for years and now exists as an evil spirit.
Raja learns that Kanakaraju had performed black magic on Ganga Devi, who was actually a queen from Devanagara Kingdom. He married her only to steal her treasure, leaving her to live in poverty. Now Raja must reclaim his grandmother’s lost fortune while battling his grandfather’s malevolent spirit.
Performances
Prabhas returns to a light-hearted role after years of intense action films. His comic timing works in a few sequences, and he delivers a powerful emotional performance in a hospital scene during the second half. However, his appearance lacks consistency throughout, with noticeable makeup issues and an uninspired presence in many scenes. He seems to sleepwalk through certain portions, lacking energy and sharpness in dialogue delivery.
Sanjay Dutt appears mostly in various VFX-heavy ghost forms rather than regular scenes. He handles his role adequately, commanding attention when on screen. Senior actress Zarina Wahab provides an emotional anchor as Gangamma, performing convincingly despite outdated writing that makes her character feel melodramatic at times. Her climax performance stands out.
Boman Irani gets wasted in a poorly written role that doesn’t utilize his caliber. Among heroines, Malavika Mohanan receives more screen time and even performs an action sequence, but none of them deliver engaging performances. Riddhi Kumar and Nidhhi Agerwal serve primarily as eye candy with minimal substance to their roles.
Comedians Satya, Prabhas Sreenu, and Saptagiri provide some relief with Maruthi’s trademark over-the-top comedy. Ironically, in a film starring one of India’s biggest actors, only these comedy sequences offer any real entertainment value. VTV Ganesh gets wasted in another poorly conceived role.
Technical Aspects
Thaman’s music feels underwhelming and halfhearted. Barring a couple of background scores, his work adds little value to this lifeless product. Three songs are visually appealing, with remixed track “Nach Nach” adding glamour quotient. However, overall musical output disappoints.
Editing by Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao ranks among major negatives. First hour, pre-climax, and climax drag endlessly, testing patience. At least thirty minutes could have been trimmed easily. Pacing issues plague entire runtime.
Cinematographer Karthik Palani delivers substandard output with outdated visuals. Some frames, especially hero shots in songs, look terrible. Lighting sets appropriate mood in places but overall cinematography disappoints.
VFX work remains inconsistent and often tacky. Film relied excessively on green screen for even simple sequences, which backfires spectacularly. Recurring cat visuals with cheap effects stand out for wrong reasons. While some graphics look decent, most appear basic and unfinished. Production designer Rajeevan’s work feels too loud and in-your-face.
People Media Factory spent enormous amounts visible on lavish sets and visual effects, but resources went to waste. Excessive grandeur without substance proves detrimental.
Direction and Writing
Maruthi created sensation with “Prema Katha Chitram” in 2013, delivering trademark entertainment. When Prabhas announced collaboration with him, expectations were mixed. What started as simple horror comedy eventually transformed into horror fantasy with extravagant grandeur over nearly four years of production.
Director’s major misstep lies in narration. First five minutes introduce Prabhas with brief fight and colorful song, followed by repetitive template where heroines enter one after another, each getting two or three scenes plus a song. Large portion of first half consumes itself with this formulaic structure.
First half feels like mere filler with outdated romantic tracks and flat comedy. Characters entering supposedly haunted palace with ease despite established rules makes narrative illogical. Comedy track involving Nidhhi Agerwal and Saptagiri proves particularly cringe-worthy.
Writing in first half appears bland; second half becomes directionless. Pre-climax and climax stretch forty to forty-five minutes with mindless writing and aimless direction. After barely watchable first half, film completely loses track in latter portions.
Film briefly regains momentum when Boman Irani explains escape plan, creating 25-minute engaging stretch that stands as strongest portion of second half. Hospital sequence where Prabhas gets emotional showcases his acting ability well. Unfortunately, final confrontation between Prabhas and Sanjay Dutt fails to leave lasting impact.
Maruthi tried mixing horror elements with science (hypnotism) while balancing Prabhas’s fun side, romance with three heroines, and emotional scenes with grandmother. This mix doesn’t work as expected. Director showed no clarity on what he was making, evident from announced sequel “The Raja Saab 2 – Circus 1935” with Prabhas in joker getup.
Outdated dialogues like “Scale tho gattiga kodithe…Debba Tagalakunda…Deepika Tagultunda” pepper throughout. Maruthi talked about forty-day action sequence with hundreds of fighters, but it’s missing from final cut. Poster showed Prabhas in old look; trailer featured action sequence with old-look Prabhas, yet this footage vanished from theatrical release. Blatant waste of money and resources indicates lack of vision.
Observing Maruthi’s filmography reveals pattern: he succeeds when staying true to script and focusing on basics, regardless of genre. Every time he makes film prioritizing star combination over script, flops result. Same happened with “Babu Bangaram,” “Shailaja Reddy Alludu,” “Pakka Commercial,” and now this.
What Works
- Prabhas’s comic timing in couple of scenes
- Few Maruthi trademark comedy sequences
- Hospital episode with emotional performance
- Prabhas attempting something different from usual action fare
- Song picturization and glamour quotient
- Technical values and production quality
- Climax sequence showing director’s imagination
What Doesn’t Work
- Outdated, bland writing throughout
- Aimless direction, especially in second half, Excessive 183-minute length
- Poor music by Thaman
- Inconsistent, tacky VFX work
- Inconsistent look for Prabhas
Final Verdict
After back-to-back blockbusters “Salaar” and “Kalki 2898 AD,” Prabhas attempted break from big-budget extravaganza with lighter entertainer. Noble intention crashes against poor execution. Film runs on mind games between protagonist and antagonist, yet shockingly lacks even one decently conceived intelligent sequence.
Star hero with sky-high image and actors from multiple film industries cannot make film cater to Pan-India audience. Script and engaging execution help film reach more people across country. Unfortunately, Maruthi overlooked this simple fact and delivered mess.
Film may find it difficult sustaining even few days at box office. Promising premise gets diluted by prolonged dull stretches, outdated romantic tracks, cringe-inducing comedy, and tacky visual effects. At peak of his stardom, Prabhas deserved better material than this disjointed narrative.
Overall, “The Raja Saab” proves uninspiring, unexciting, and uninteresting. Forgettable entry for Prabhas, Maruthi, and team. What could have been refreshing change of pace for superstar becomes misfired illusion that tests patience rather than entertaining audiences.
Rating: 2.5/5 – Watch only for Prabhas