Prabhas’s The RajaSaab Review: A Horror Comedy Lacking Charm and Thrills

The RajaSaab Review: Prabhas’s Horror Comedy Falters Despite Star Power.

Prabhas’s much-anticipated film, The RajaSaab, follows the search for a missing grandfather, Kanakaraju (Sanjay Dutt), but over its three-hour runtime, audiences end up searching for much more: a coherent plot, well-developed characters, genuine scares, or consistent entertainment. Like its protagonist wandering through a haunted palace, the film often feels directionless.

The story begins with Raja (Prabhas) living with his grandmother Gangamma (Zarina Wahab), who suffers from Alzheimer’s and constantly dreams of her missing husband. Following a clue, Raja travels to Hyderabad, eventually stumbling upon a haunted palace belonging to Kanakaraju. The film then moves between exorcism, hypnosis, tantric rituals, and supernatural events, but the narrative is muddled and fails to maintain focus.

Director Maruthi’s screenplay collapses what could have been a solid horror-comedy premise into a loud, unfunny, and incohesive film. Scenes jump abruptly from village life to Hyderabad and back again, leaving viewers confused. Prabhas gives a likable performance as a good-hearted, funny protagonist, but his character lacks depth, and key backstory questions—such as why he lives with his grandmother or what happened to his parents—are left unanswered.

The haunted palace sequences only add to the absurdity. Raja, his sidekicks, and three heroines host a costume party while confronting spirits, dressed in perfectly styled sarees and outfits, making the horror elements almost laughable. Visual effects are tacky, green-screen work is obvious, and even Prabhas appears artificial in many sequences.

While the film hints at interesting concepts like hypnosis and exorcism, these are underexplored. Prabhas’s sporadic comic timing works in a few scenes, such as a hospital sequence, but the film rarely capitalizes on these moments. The female leads—Malavika Mohanan, Nidhhi Agerwal, and Riddhi Kumar—are criminally underused, serving more as decorative props than meaningful characters.

Editing further exposes the screenplay’s flaws, leaving a three-hour film that jumps awkwardly between genres and locations. Despite a reported budget of ₹400 crore, The RajaSaab struggles to justify its scale, delivering a muddled, inconsistent experience that fails to engage or entertain.

In short, The RajaSaab wastes its potential. What could have been an engaging horror-comedy becomes a long, unfunny ordeal, lacking charm, cohesion, and the thrills expected from both the genre and its star.