Recently, in the Spirit announcement video, director Sandeep Reddy Vanga introduced Prabhas with the tag "India's Biggest Superstar." Prabhas fans across the country strongly agree that this description is not an exaggeration.
At present, no other Indian actor enjoys such massive nationwide reach, fan following, and market strength. A major reason for this stature is the historic impact of Baahubali, which transformed Prabhas into a true pan-India phenomenon.
What is notable is that Prabhas has managed to protect and sustain his pan-India market even after Baahubali. Although Saaho was a disaster, it achieved decent success in the Hindi belt. Adipurush also opened strongly despite an embarrassing response. Films like Salaar and Kalki 2898 AD performed respectably in North India, supported by strong promotions in Hindi.
However, the situation appears different for The Raja Saab. After back-to-back big films like Salaar and Kalki, Prabhas is returning with a horror fantasy genre, which generally connects very well with Hindi audiences. One of the biggest hits in recent times in Hindi was Stree 2, which also belonged to the horror comedy genre. This gives Raja Saab a clear advantage to score big collections in North India. Despite this, the team has not organized even a single promotional event in North India so far.
In the Telugu states, promotions are not a major concern because Prabhas' name is enough to generate some buzz. In fact, his films require stronger promotional efforts outside Telugu regions rather than within them. Surprisingly, the team has not planned any events beyond the Telugu states, especially in Mumbai and Delhi, which are crucial hubs for the North Indian market.
Producer Vishwa Prasad is known for spending generously on promotions. That is why many find it puzzling that, for his first full-scale pan-India production, he has not yet capitalized on Prabhas' market in other states through promotional events.
Instead of conducting hurried press meets just before release, planning well-timed promotional events in advance would significantly benefit the film's reach and collections. At this stage, many feel that the team is missing a golden chance to fully cash in on Prabhas' pan-India appeal.
As of now box office trends reveal that Raja Saab Hindi might struggle to collect in double digits on the first day. Afterwards, the word of mouth, if positive, should take the film forward to success.