#TheRajaSaab Review

#TheRajaSaab

2026- Telugu 

Starring : Prabhas, Sanjay Dutt, Nidhhi Agerwal , Malavika Mohanan , Riddhi Kumar , Boman Irani and Zareena Wahab

Directed by Maruthi

Plot : Raju lives with his grandmother Gangamma, who suffers from Alzheimer’s and is still searching for her long lost husband, Kanakaraju. When Raju accidentally uncovers a clue to Kanakaraju’s whereabouts, he sets out to find him, only to be drawn into a haunted mansion from which escape seems impossible. As the mystery deepens, questions arise about what really happened to Kanakaraju and whether he is truly the good man he appears to be, leaving Raju and his accomplice fighting to uncover the truth and find a way out.

Performance wise , Prabhas literally shoulders this entire film. Though he looks a little dull at some portions , his comic timing and laid backness is what keeps the film barely watchable. Sanjay Dutt gets a meaty role but unfortunately the role is very poorly written. Sanjay tries to elevate it but unfortunately doesn't reach the full potential. Nidhhi & Malavika get the typical Glam girl role where they don't contribute much for the film except for the oomph factor. Except Malavika atleast gets a fight sequence which Niddhi is compensated with a solo duet song. Riddhi Kumar gets a very insignificant role. Zareena Wahab gets a solid role and performs really well who keeps the film afloat along with Prabhas. Boman Irani wasted. The film has a slew of comedians such as VTV Ganesh, Prabhas Seenu , Sathya and Saptagiri but the gags are absolutely unfunny. Except for Saptagiri's track , nothing works. Decent Cameo by Ammu Abhirami.

Technically the film is a Hit & Miss. The Film's Cinematography is very rich , Thanks to Karthik Palani the frames are wonderful. Unfortunately the film takes a hit in Editing territory, editing by Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao feels so random and the cohesiveness between scenes are missing. The random cuts that the team did to reduce runtime has impacted the films seamlessness. Music by Thaman is loud and thumping. While Sahana Sahana & Rebel Saab are good, Nache Nache is barley listenable as Music takes over the lyrics. BGMS are very loud. VFX is subpar except for the Bombastic Climax where VFX is actually great. 

The First Half opens with Raju's Intro and his bond with his Grandmother. These sequences are pretty decent but as the setting moves to Hyderabad the film completely gets diluted. The Romance tracks seems force fitted the jokes don't land. There are some geniune moments of fun but that that don't last long. As the story progresses towards the mansion the film gets slightly interesting and ends on a pretty decent interval bang. The Flashback sequence seem decent and Sanjay Dutt's Backstory is pretty cliched and doesn't excite the audience.

Then the Second Half opens and the film's focus completely loses it momentum. There are again some interesting ideas that have potential when exploited but the makers just try to settle with basic stuff. The Heroines roles especially in Second Half main revolves around fighting for the Heroine or glamour shots that's it. While the Boman Irani sequence brings some curiosity again its diluted by in consequent scenes which follows it. A small track by Saptagiri alone works. There's a 15-20 min stretch regarding Zareena Wahab and Prabhas in a Hospital Setup and probably that's the only point where the film works and sticks to it core plot. But unfortunately shortly after that we get a stretched VFX Monster Climax fight which was technically strong but unfortunately feels unintentionally funny. 

Talking abou the Negatives , the film tries to everything all at once. The film wants to be Horror - Comedy - Fantasy and Thriller everything at once but none of them land properly. Also the film doesn't even stick to its core point and keeps on wandering here and there till Interval. Even after Interval , it takes its own sweet time to get to the core plot. Another major drawback was the film's editing which was absolutely horrible. The film crew has edited out some scenes to reduce duration but all the cuts are abrupt which literally f-s up the flow. Also one more thing that really disturbed me was the usage of Dupe for multiple scenes where they have morphed Prabhas face on which really feels uncomfortable.

Coming to Writer Director Maruthi, his core plot point about Hypnotism And Sahasra Chakras are decent but the staging and screenplay goes everywhere. The main focus of the film was Entertainment but unfortunately it doesn't achieve that. The film hangs on a very thin thread which is completely held on by Prabhas. Without Prabhas this film is nothing. 

Overall: The Raja Saab is an underwhelming horror romantic comedy thriller that tries to bite off far more than it can chew. Prabhas is enjoyable, and the heroines ooze glamour, but beyond that, the film offers nothing but disappointment.

Rating : 2/5

Television Rights: Star Network 

Digital Rights: Disney Plus Hotstar