February 6 turned into a nightmare for Prabhas fans as his latest disaster The Raja Saab began streaming on Jio Hotstar after being thrown out of theatres. As expected, the trolling exploded the moment the film hit OTT.
On a premium platform like Disney Plus Hotstar, extracting screenshots or video clips is not easy. Still, angry fans went a step further. HD prints surfaced on piracy websites, and clips from those versions were widely circulated on social media, largely to target director Maruthi.
Viewers began dissecting the film frame by frame. Some trolls claimed Prabhas used a body double in almost every scene. Others pointed out basic continuity blunders, like the bus Prabhas travels in mysteriously changes overnight. A few mocked a scene where Malavika Mohanan drives a car without even looking at the road. While some trolling borders on nitpicking, the sheer scale of the backlash points to a deeper issue.
The industry has seen far bigger disasters. Audiences did not spare S. Shankar during Game Changer. Films like Liger and Acharya caused such massive losses that some distributors reportedly quit the business altogether. So the question is obvious. Why was The Raja Saab singled out for such brutal online treatment?
The answer lies in the tall claims made before release.
Maruthi’s high-pitched interviews and excessive promotional statements pushed expectations to absurd levels. Fans walked in expecting something extraordinary. What they got did not even meet basic filmmaking standards, forget matching the hype. The gap between promise and reality was not just big, it was humiliating.
In contrast, Prabhas’ previous directors Prashanth Neel and Nag Ashwin maintained a low-profile during promotions. They did not overpromise. The content spoke for itself, and success followed naturally. Another director who overpromised was Om Raut during Adipurush, and he continues to be trolled even today. But Maruthi has somehow managed to surpass even that benchmark by delivering an even worse film. This is why the trolling is likely to haunt him for a long time.
Maruthi and producer SKN kept fans emotionally charged throughout promotions with constant hype. When the final product collapsed, fans’ disappointment turned into heartbreak which quickly turned into anger. Social media became the only outlet for their anger.
Had the team shown basic restraint and honesty during promotions, the backlash might not have reached this level. The Raja Saab now stands as a clear lesson for filmmakers. Sometimes, silence and realism protect a film far better than loud promises and fake confidence. The makers knew they made a horrible film and still they had the audacity in trying to oversell it. This trolling is not random cruelty. It is the direct result of that shamelessness of the makers to try fooling the audience.
