The Raja Saab Box Office Collection Day 1: The Raja Saab finally arrived in theatres on January 9, 2026, riding on massive expectations. The buzz was natural. After all, this marked Prabhas’ first-ever horror film and a rare shift from his usual action-heavy roles. The intriguing posters and the promise of a horror-comedy-fantasy added to the curiosity. However, once the film hit the big screen, audience reactions turned out to be sharply divided.
Despite mixed to negative word of mouth, The Raja Saab managed to post a solid opening at the Indian box office.
The Raja Saab Box Office Collection Day 1
According to industry tracker Sacnilk, the film collected around Rs 45 crore nett in India on its first official day. In addition, it earned Rs 9.15 crore from special premiere shows held on Thursday across Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Kerala. This takes its total India collection to approximately Rs 54.4 crore within the first 24 hours.
Interestingly, the film has comfortably outperformed Dhurandhar and Chhaava on day one. Chhaava, which was the biggest opener of 2025, had earned Rs 31 crore on its release day, while Dhurandhar debuted at Rs 28 crore nett. By comparison, The Raja Saab earned nearly double that figure, making its opening undeniably impressive on paper.
The film sold around 5.62 lakh tickets in India (including block seats), generating Rs 28.09 crore in advance sales. Telugu markets led the charge, followed by Hindi. Occupancy levels tell a similar story. The Telugu version recorded an overall occupancy of 57.16% across 2,650 shows. Hindi occupancy was much lower at 15.63% across 2,742 shows, while the Tamil version saw an occupancy of 22.69% across 370 shows.
That said, The Raja Saab also marks Prabhas’ weakest opening in the post-pandemic era. This was somewhat expected. The film is not a mass action entertainer, and its advance bookings opened relatively late. Compared to Prabhas’ earlier blockbusters, the numbers were low. Salaar opened at Rs 90 crore, Kalki 2898 AD at Rs 95 crore, and even Adipurush debuted at Rs 86 crore before its sharp decline. It also failed to beat the opening day of Allu Arjun‘s Pushpa 2.
| Film | Opening Day Collection (India Nett) |
|---|---|
| Dhurandhar | Rs 28 crore |
| Chhaava | Rs 31 crore |
| The Raja Saab | Rs 45 crore |
| Adipurush | Rs 86 crore |
| Salaar | Rs 90 crore |
| Kalki 2898 AD | Rs 95 crore |
| Pushpa 2 | Rs 164 crore |
The film also made headlines by dethroning Dhurandhar from the TOP spot at the Indian box office. Ranveer Singh-starrer had been leading for five weeks. The Raja Saab surpassed Dhurandhar’s Thursday haul of Rs 4.25 crore with ease during its morning shows itself.
About The Film
Directed by Maruthi, The Raja Saab is a Telugu-language horror-comedy-fantasy centred on Raju, played by Prabhas. The story follows an orphan living with his grandmother, Gangamma, who suffers from Alzheimer’s. Her longing for her missing husband leads Raju to a haunted ancestral mansion in Hyderabad, where he discovers that his grandfather has returned as a malevolent spirit.
The film features Sanjay Dutt as the antagonist, Boman Irani as a psychiatrist and Malavika Mohanan, Nidhhi Agerwal and Riddhi Kumar as the female leads. With a runtime of 189 minutes and a reported budget of Rs 400–450 crore, The Raja Saab is among the most expensive Telugu films of 2026.
