There is a strange coincidence surrounding Raja Saab and Toxic. Both Prabhas and Yash were originally scheduled to clash with the Dhurandhar franchise. Both backed out. And despite avoiding the clash, both Raja Saab and Toxic ended up as epic disasters.
Prabhas’ Raja Saab was initially scheduled for December 5, 2025. At that point, Dhurandhar had not generated anything close to the massive hype it eventually created. Raja Saab was clearly the bigger film on paper. But Raja Saab was postponed. Dhurandhar arrived without any major competition, exploded at the box office, and went on to become a historic blockbuster.
Then came an almost identical situation with Toxic. Yash’s film was originally planned for March 19, 2026, directly against Dhurandhar 2. The advance bookings for Toxic were reportedly not encouraging in the US, and the makers eventually postponed the release. Dhurandhar 2 then arrived as one of the most anticipated sequels in the country, got a solo release, and went on to rewrite box-office records.
The irony is brutal. Both stars avoided the clash. Both Dhurandhar films benefited from their postponements. But neither Raja Saab nor Toxic managed to turn their postponement into a successful theatrical run.
There is one difference. Toxic at least had a decent pan-India opening before collapsing. Raja Saab struggled to even get a strong opening, with Prabhas failing to bring audiences to theatres across India.
Now, fans are wondering what could have happened if Raja Saab had released with Dhurandhar. What if Toxic had faced Dhurandhar 2? Considering how strongly both Dhurandhar films performed, the clashes could have been brutal. If Raja Saab and Toxic were going to fail anyway, their failures could have looked even worse next to two historic blockbusters.
Prabhas ran away from Dhurandhar and still became a disaster. Yash ran away from Dhurandhar 2 and still delivered a disaster.
In the end, Dhurandhar didn’t need to defeat them at the box office. They defeated themselves by postponing.
