When Prabhas announced a film with director Maruthi, many were curious about the subject. The project took a long time to start, complete shooting, and finally release this January—only to disappoint fans with weak content.
Originally, The Raja Saab was planned as a simple horror comedy without the big-budget scale of Prabhas’ recent films. However, the idea changed over time, and the film was shaped into a large-scale project similar to Salaar and Kalki.
Promotions added to the confusion. The first teaser was decent, but the songs and initial trailer were underwhelming, raising doubts. Trailer 2.0 brought back some expectations, but the final product did not live up to them.
Maruthi promised that this would not be a regular horror comedy, and he was right—the story focuses on a psychological battle between hero and villain, with themes of hypnotism and hallucination. Unfortunately, the film takes too long to reach this point. Only when Boman Irani’s character appears near the pre-climax does the film show some spark. The hospital episode and the hero’s emotional struggle are engaging, but the climax drags and loses impact.
Too much time is wasted on unnecessary romance tracks. Having three heroines adds no strength to the story and leaves audiences bored. Comedy also falls flat, with only a few one-liners from Prabhas working. Supporting characters like VTV Ganesh, Prabhas Seenu, and Saptagiri feel dull and cartoonish.
The emotional thread between the grandmother and hero is barely explored, reducing the impact of her sacrifice. The villain, the grandfather, also lacks depth—his greed is never explained, and his presence fails to create a real threat or intrigue. As a result, the hero-villain conflict feels ineffective.
Despite an interesting concept, “The Raja Saab” is ultimately a major disappointment. It fails to deliver thrills or fun, the visuals are unimpressive, and the background score is unnecessarily loud. What could have been a unique psychological horror comedy devolves into a soulless spectacle.
