Movie name: The Raja Saab
Rating: 2.25/5
Pour: Prabhas, Sanjay Dutt, Malavika Mohanan, Riddhi Kumar, Nidhhi Agerwla, Zarina Wahab, Boman Irani and others
director: Maruthi
Produced by: TG Vishwa Prasad
Release date: January 9, 2026
The Raja Saab is the latest horror comedy starring Prabhas in the lead role. The Maruthi-directed film hit the theaters amidst huge hype from fans and also made headlines due to delayed bookings in Telangana. Let’s find out if the film lives up to the hype in our review below.
Story:
The Raja Saab is about Raju (Prabhas), who lives with his grandmother who suffers from Alzheimer's disease. Once a royal heir, her husband betrayed her and left her. After his death, the grandfather, who practiced dark arts, seeks rebirth to regain his powers. How Raju finds out the truth, confronts his grandfather and saves his grandmother forms the core of the story.
performances:
After a very long time, Prabhas has managed to portray a character with free-flowing satire, romantic moments and a strong emotional bond and he does it very well. Sanjay Dutt's characterization seems mixed and the audience cannot feel any powerful aura in his presence. Boman Irani's intelligent character is good and he portrays it well.
There are three heroines in the film, but practically there is no good reason to include all three. None of them add much to the story and their scenes are poorly written. Zarina Wahab does very well and her presence is excellent, but her character arc is not portrayed properly. Satya, Prabhas Sreenu and other comedians deliver on their terms.
analysis:
The film had a very interesting plot and the potential to deliver a strong horror-fantasy experience. However, director Maruthi failed to treat the subject in a compelling way. The entire first half goes off track with continuous filler scenes, especially with the heroine, and only picks up some momentum in the pre-break and interval sections.
The break ends on a fascinating note. After the break, a few comedy bits initially work well and give hope that the film will get back on the right track. But once again the filler scenes with the heroines disrupt the flow. Maruthi goes completely overboard and gets stuck between horror, mid-game and fantasy genres without really delivering anything.
The hyped climax also drags on too long and mixes too many elements. At some point it becomes difficult to understand what is really happening. The characters look interesting, but the film fails to portray them convincingly, including all of the main characters.
Director Maruthi fails significantly and shows his inability to handle a big star and a big budget film. Thaman's music is very disappointing and extremely loud. The CG is good in some scenes but looks strange in others. The camera work is just okay and could have been much better. The editing is terrible. The film's biggest flaw is the lack of sharp cuts, which detracts from the overall flow.
Positive:
- Prabhas' characterization and screen presence
- Episodes before and after the interval
- Some comedy scenes and fantasy elements
- Hospital scene in the 2nd half
Negatives:
- Weak character arcs for everyone
- Bad script and bad editing
- Loud and out of sync music
- Overcomplicated script
- Heroes and three heroines track
- The drawn out climax
The review and verdict of Raja Saab:
Even with low expectations, the Raja Saab fails to impress the audience. The film is worth watching mainly because you get to see Prabhas in his comical and free-flowing role and because of his good performance along with some fantasy elements.
For Prabhas fans it might be worth watching but for others it is definitely a disappointing film. The film does not deliver the fantasy, horror and comedy that audiences expected.
