According to BoxOfficeIndia, Prabhas‘ The Raja Saab (Hindi) completely collapsed on Monday, collecting just Rs. 1 crore net. This marks a massive drop of over 80 percent from its opening day. Even if the inflated first day numbers caused by block bookings are adjusted, the real fall is still well over 70 percent, which is extremely rare for a big star release. So far, the Hindi version has collected only around Rs. 14 crore net, and trade estimates suggest it may not even reach Rs. 20 crore net in its entire run, despite facing very little competition this week.
The film’s performance has once again exposed the risks of the so-called pan India strategy. In trying to design films that can appeal to the Hindi heartland, the Telugu industry is ending up with projects that neither fully satisfy the local audience nor successfully break into the Hindi market. A film that looks and feels regional cannot cross over easily. When its budget is inflated to pan India levels, Hindi success becomes compulsory. When that fails, the entire financial model collapses, as seen with Raja Saab.
On Monday, the film collected just Rs. 6.5 crore gross across India, pushing its four-day Indian gross to about Rs. 120.5 crore. Overseas, the film is virtually finished, with collections dropping to negligible levels. The worldwide gross now stands at around Rs. 151 crores.
Even these Monday numbers were supported by Sankranti holidays in the Telugu states. Without the festive cushion, the collections would have been even worse. The Hindi version, in particular, has completely crashed and is expected to be out of cinemas within a week. While Sankranti may keep the Telugu version running for a few more days, it will not be enough to change the film’s overall fate. The film is now expected to finish below Rs. 200 crore gross worldwide, which is disastrous for a project of this scale.
According to trade experts quoted by Pinkvilla, The Raja Saab carries massive costs of over Rs. 400 crores. With non-theatrical revenues shrinking, recovery depended heavily on theatrical performance. Current estimates suggest theatrical recovery will remain well under Rs. 100 crores, potentially resulting in losses of over Rs. 200 crores. This places the film among the biggest commercial disasters in Indian cinema.
