The Raja Saab Faces Box Office Slowdown on Weekday
The box office performance of Prabhas-led film The Raja Saab experienced a significant slowdown during its first weekday. This development highlights growing concerns about the movie's long-term theatrical prospects. On Day 5, the film collected ₹4.85 crore across all language versions. This brings its cumulative India net total to ₹119.45 crore.
Occupancy Levels Remain Subdued
Occupancy levels stayed low throughout the day. They showed only marginal improvement during afternoon and evening shows. In Telugu markets, the film recorded an overall occupancy of 19.75%. Morning shows began at 14.55%, rising to just over 22% in later slots.
The Hindi version continued to underperform significantly. It posted an overall occupancy of 10.15%. Tamil markets fared slightly better at 12.55%. Final numbers may see minor revisions once night-show data gets added.
Day-wise India Net Collections
- Day 0: ₹9.15 crore
- Day 1: ₹53.75 crore
- Day 2: ₹26 crore
- Day 3: ₹19.1 crore
- Day 4: ₹6.6 crore
- Day 5: ₹3.86 crore
- Total: ₹118.46 crore
This trend reflects a steep weekday drop. Collections slid sharply after the extended opening window. Trade analysts note that the festive Sankranti period will likely provide temporary relief starting January 14. However, the underlying trajectory suggests limited organic demand beyond holidays.
Hindi Version Struggles Particularly
The Hindi version has faced particular challenges. Daily collections fell below ₹1 crore. Lifetime Hindi net business now expects to remain under ₹20 crore. This represents a notably weak outcome for a Prabhas-led release. Such figures typically associate with opening-day performance rather than a full run.
The film's genre positioning highlights the actor's uneven box office pull outside action-driven spectacles in non-Telugu markets.
Worldwide Performance and Financial Implications
By the end of Day 4, The Raja Saab earned approximately ₹151–152 crore in worldwide gross. The global tally should cross ₹200 crore during the holiday stretch. Trade observers caution that this figure carries little significance given the film's reported production budget of ₹300–400 crore.
With OTT and satellite valuations under pressure across the industry, large-scale productions increasingly depend on theatrical revenues to close the recovery gap. In this case, producer share from the theatrical run estimates at ₹100–110 crore. This implies potential losses of ₹200 crore or more.
Potential Commercial Underperformance
Barring an unexpected turnaround, The Raja Saab shapes up as among the most commercially underperforming big-budget Indian films in recent years. It could emerge as Prabhas' second-largest box office setback after Radhe Shyam from 2022.
