At the pre-release event of Maruthi’s horror comedy The Raja Saab held in Hyderabad on Saturday, actor Prabhas delivered a wholesome speech. He thanked everyone from the director and the cast to the producer, distributor, and the technicians. He also predicted that his film, along with other Sankranthi releases, are going to be major blockbusters.
“This is a story about a grandmother and grandson. Zarina Wahab has acted wonderfully as the grandmother. While dubbing, I was so absorbed in her scenes that I forgot my own dialogues. I became a fan of my on-screen grandmother. In this film, along with me, the grandmother character is also a hero,” said Prabhas at the event.
He also heaped praise on another Bollywood actor who’s part of The Raja Saab cast — Sanjay Dutt. “Sanjay Dutt sir has an amazing screen presence. When the camera goes in for a close-up, he completely dominates the frame,” said Prabhas. A month after his impressive turn in Aditya Dhar’s blockbuster Bollywood period spy thriller Dhurandhar, Dutt will be seen as the chief antagonist, locking horns with Prabhas.
Prabhas was all praise for the three leading ladies of the film. “All three heroines look very beautiful. Riddhi Kumar is a very good performer and worked extremely hard for this film. Malavika (Mohanan) is a girl with beautiful eyes. She struggled for two and a half years for this movie. Nidhhi Agerwal is everyone’s favorite on set — a positive, calm person who quietly does her work. She’s a beautiful and nice person, which is a very rare combination,” added Prabhas.
Prabhas shared that along with Zarina Wahab, The Raja Saab producer Vishwa Prasad is the true hero of the film since he took their vision and the scale of the film to a whole new level. “We shot this film over three years. The original budget was one thing, and it eventually became something else. We were scared — but Vishwa Prasad wasn’t. He was very brave. I’m saying this seriously: the hero of The Raja Saab is Vishwa Prasad,” said Prabhas.
He also acknowledged the contribution of the North Indian distributor Anil Thadani of AA Films. “He is like a brother to me. He has supported me right from the beginning,” said Prabhas. Thadani’s AA Films had also distributed Prabhas’ global breakthrough, SS Rajamouli’s fantasy epic franchise Baahubali, back in 2015-2017.
Prabhas also recalled his conversation with Maruthi, when the actor suggested that since all films these days are turning very grim and action-oriented, they should spruce up their movie with added elements. “Let’s add some entertainment, darling. We tried many ideas, and finally, horror comedy worked out,” said Prabhas, adding, “Maruthi worked extremely hard on this film for three years, under immense pressure, pain, and responsibility.”
Prabhas stirred up some excitement among the fans present at the event by claiming that the next trailer of The Raja Saab would give them a sense of both Maruthi’s “madness” and Vishwa Prasad’s “budget”. He said this is the first time in 15 years that Maruthi has delivered full-fledged entertainer, custom-made for Sakranti.
“I’ve become a fan of Maruthi’s writing. I don’t know whether he wrote the climax with a pen or a machine gun—but it’s something entirely new, never seen before. It’s not just horror; it’s done in a very different way. We’re extremely excited. How it feels — you’ll have to tell us after watching it,” said Prabhas.
He said that for a horror film, both he and Maruthi felt that the right choice for the background score would be S Thaman. “In India, there’s no other music director who can give background score at this level. That’s why we entrusted the film to him,” said Prabhas, adding, “Thanks to cinematographer Karthik, because of him, the film has come out with such high quality. Ram-Lakshman and Solomon Masters choreographed the action sequences, and they completely nailed them.”
“All films releasing during Sankranti should become blockbusters. We learned that tradition from our seniors. If our film also becomes a blockbuster along with theirs, we’ll be very happy,” said Prabhas. Along with The Raja Saab, H Vinoth’s Jana Nayagan, starring Vijay; Anil Ravipudi’s Mana Shankara Vara Prasad Garu, starring Chiranjeevi; Naveen Polishetty’s Anaganaga Oka Raju; and Ram Abbaraju’s Nari Nari Naduma Murari, starring Sharwanand, are also set to release in cinemas on the occasion of Sankranti 2026.
During Prabhas’ speech, when someone mentioned Baahubali, fans began chanting “Baahubali Jai Ho,” prompting Prabhas to quip, “Are you chanting ‘Baahubali Jai Ho’ because you think my speech is boring?” He laughed and added that one day, he would thoroughly entertain everyone on stage and leave them completely shocked.