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The Raja Saab: Where Is Old Prabhas?

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The Raja Saab: Where Is Old Prabhas?

The Raja Saab, starring Prabhas, was released today and is receiving mixed to negative reviews. However, apart from the reviews, fans are questioning the team about Prabhas’s old man look, which is completely missing from the film.

In the teaser, the makers excited fans by showing Prabhas in an aged look, sitting on a king’s chair. This scene became one of the biggest highlights of the film’s promotions. Many believed this look would play an important role in the story.

Prabhas looked stylish in the old man getup, with his swag, cigar, and costumes standing out. Audiences expected this to be a powerful moment in the film where the Rebel Star would dominate the screen.

Since Prabhas’s character is shown as a normal human and Sanjay Dutt’s character has special powers, viewers assumed that Prabhas would either outsmart the villain or gain extraordinary powers in this aged look. Some even thought this appearance would be linked to a flashback and the film’s backstory.

However, all these expectations were shattered. Shockingly, there is not a single scene in the movie that features Prabhas in the old man getup. Regardless of the film’s reviews and word of mouth, heavily teasing this look in promotions and then excluding it from the film has disappointed audiences even more.

Another letdown is the Joker look, which created a lot of buzz after Trailer 2.0. In the movie, this look has no real importance and is used only to announce the next part. Prabhas appears in this getup without generating much excitement. In hindsight, there was no real need to reveal this look in the promotional material.

Ticket Hikes: The Strategy That Is Hurting Tollywood

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Ticket Hikes: The Strategy That Is Hurting Tollywood

Tollywood, the Telugu film industry, has seen frequent ticket price hikes in recent years. Pushpa 2 took this trend to another level by introducing premium pricing for premiere shows, with ticket rates going up to around ₹1,000.

Even though Pushpa 2 was a profitable film even before release, many are questioning the intention behind such massive ticket hikes by the production house, Mythri Movie Makers. When one big film changes the pricing pattern, the entire industry tends to follow it. Unfortunately, this strategy brings more negatives than positives.

Huge Ticket Prices Are Reducing Footfalls

High ticket prices have become a heavy burden for audiences. In addition, online bookings are often opened very late, which further reduces theatre footfalls. Because of this, distributors are struggling to understand the real craze and box office potential of films.

If movies are sold at reasonable prices with affordable ticket rates, many of these issues can be avoided. Despite the hikes, overall collections are not increasing. In fact, several films released in the past—before such hikes became common—earned more than recent films. The main difference is the sharp drop in ticket sales.

The strategy of buyers trying to recover their entire investment within the opening weekend has turned out to be one of the worst approaches.

Who Really Benefits from Ticket Hikes?

It is unclear who actually benefits from these steep ticket prices. Audiences are unhappy, the government is facing unnecessary legal issues and negative publicity, and distributors say that theatre footfalls are being affected. Even producers have admitted that frequent hikes are harming the industry.

This raises a big question: for whose benefit is the industry going in circles? Hopefully, the industry will come together and hold discussions with the government to find a permanent solution—either by revising ticket prices fairly or by allowing additional shows.

At the same time, the government should take a clear and consistent stand and create a system where every film does not have to seek special permission for ticket price hikes.

Chiranjeevi Rampage in America

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Chiranjeevi Rampage in America

There are a few days left for Mana Shankara Vara Prasad Garu’s theatrical release. Megastar Chiranjeevi is doing a rampage in America with the pre-sales of this entertainer. The film developed a good buzz in recent days.

There were expectations that Mana Shankara Vara Prasad Garu would collect around $500K–$600K in North American premieres. Initially, the momentum was slow, but the film is picking up rapidly in the past 2 days, with massive jumps.

Today, the film is crossing $500K in pre-sales, and there are chances for it to get near the million mark before shows start.

Now, MSG is all set to deliver Anil Ravipudi’s first million-dollar premiere. There are also chances for it to get Chiranjeevi’s biggest premieres by beating Khaidi No. 150’s sensational trending and rampage bookings.

OG’s Premieres Record Looks Unbreakable

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OG’s Premieres Record Looks Unbreakable

Tollywood started the premieres trend with flat ticket prices with Pushpa 2. Later, every big film continued with the same strategy, but Pawan Kalyan’s OG’s Premieres record looks unbearable.

They Call Him OG was released last year during the Dasara season with massive buzz and huge ticket hikes and set an all-time record collection for premieres with more than ₹25 Cr gross in India. It stands as the record holder in both Telugu states and across India,

The Raja Saab team applied for ₹1000 ticket prices for premieres in both Telugu states. In Andhra Pradesh, they got permission, but the Telangana government denied it. The team waited until the last minute, and with no other choice, they were forced to open limited premieres with regular ticket prices at the last moment. Because of this, the film did not even come close to OG numbers from premiere shows.

Now, looking at the conditions, Telangana seems to have decided not to allow record ticket hikes. It might happen in Andhra Pradesh also in the future, as governments are getting unnecessary headaches because of these hikes, bringing both bad names and legal troubles.

With this, it is likely that there will be only reasonable hikes for Telugu Films from next time. With such hikes, whether or not big films will go for premieres is a big question. With all these conditions, the OG premieres record will hold for a long time..

Jana Nayagan Release : Censor Board Stands Firm Against Even In Court

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Jana Nayagan Release : Censor Board Stands Firm Against Even In Court

The Jana Nayagan team sent the content to the censor board in the third week of December. The censor team asked for some cuts, and the makers made those changes and resubmitted the content. However, the censor team still did not issue the certificate to Jana Nayagan, which forced the producers to move to court.

The CBFC stated that certain scenes could hurt religious sentiments and that allowing them was not possible. Meanwhile, the producers claimed that the censor certificate was deliberately held till the last minute, which forced them to postpone the release.

The High Court hearing happened today and ordered the issuance of a U/A certificate for Jana Nayagan. The shocking part is that, in response, the CBFC has decided to file a writ appeal before the Division Bench, seeking an urgent hearing either today or on Monday. They have challenged the single judge’s verdict, so now two judges will be involved in this case.

Now, we have to wait and see how this finally settles and when Jana Nayagan will find its release in theatres.

The Raja Saab Movie Review: Fantasy Outside – Nightmare Inside

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The Raja Saab Movie Review: Fantasy Outside – Nightmare Inside

Movie Name: The Raja Saab
Rating: 2.25/5
Cast: Prabhas, Sanjay Dutt, Malavika Mohanan, Riddhi Kumar, Nidhhi Agerwla, Zarina Wahab, Boman Irani, and others
Director: Maruthi
Produced By: T.G. Vishwa Prasad
Release Date: 9th January 2026

The Raja Saab is the latest horror comedy starring Prabhas. Directed by Maruthi, the movie hit theaters amidst huge hype from fans, and it also made news due to late bookings in Telangana. Let’s find out if the movie lives up to the hype in our review below.

Story:

The Raja Saab follows Raju (Prabhas), who lives with his grandmother having Alzheimer’s. Once a royal heir, her husband betrayed and abandoned her.After his death, the grandfather who practiced dark arts seeks rebirth to regain his powers. How Raju discovers the truth, confronts his grandfather, and saves his grandmother forms the crux of the story.

Performances:

Prabhas, after a very long time, gets a character with free-flowing satire, romantic moments, and a strong emotional bond to portray, and he does it very well. Sanjay Dutt’s characterization feels mixed, and the audience cannot feel a powerful aura in his presence. Boman Irani’s intelligent character is good, and he portrays it well.

There are three heroines in the film, but practically there is no strong reason to include all three. None of them add much value to the story, and their scenes are poorly written. Zarina Wahab performs very well, and her presence is excellent, but her character arc is not presented properly. Satya, Prabhas Sreenu, and other comedians deliver as per their standards.

Analysis:

The movie had a very interesting plot and the potential to deliver a strong horror-fantasy experience. However, director Maruthi failed to handle the subject engagingly.The entire first half goes off track with continuous filler scenes, especially the heroine’s track, and only picks up some momentum towards the pre-interval and interval portions.

The interval ends on an intriguing note.Post-interval, a few comedy bits initially work well, giving hope that the film is getting back on the right track. But once again, the filler scenes with the heroines disturb the flow. Maruthi completely goes overboard and gets stuck between horror, mid-game, and fantasy genres, delivering no element effectively.

The hyped climax is also dragged out for too long and mixes too many elements. At some point, it becomes difficult to understand what is really happening. The characters look interesting, but the film fails to present them strongly, including all the main characters.

Director Maruthi fails in a considerable way and shows his inability to handle a big star and a big-budget film. Thaman’s music is very disappointing and extremely loud. The CG is good in a few scenes but looks odd in others. The cinematography is just okay and could have been much better. The editing is terrible. The film’s biggest mistake is the lack of sharp cuts, which affects the overall flow.

Positives:

  • Prabhas’s characterization and screen presence
  • Pre-Interval and Post-Interval Episodes
  • Some Comedy Scenes and Fantasy Elements
  • Hospital Scene in 2nd half

Negatives:

  • Weak Character Arcs For Everyone
  • Poor Screenplay and Editing
  • Loud and Non Sync Music
  • Overcomplicated Screenplay
  • Hero and Three heroines Track
  • The Dragged Climax

The Raja Saab Review and Verdict:

The Raja Saab fails to impress the audience even with low expectations. The film is watchable mainly to see Prabhas in a comic and free-flowing role and for his good performance, along with a few fantasy elements.

For Prabhas fans, it may be watchable, but for others, it is definitely a disappointing film. The movie fails to deliver the fantasy, horror, and comedy that audiences expected.

Sobhita Dhulipala’s Film to Stream on OTT This Month

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Sobhita Dhulipala’s Film to Stream on OTT This Month

Actress Sobhita Dhulipala has impressed audiences by working in films and web series across Telugu, Hindi, Malayalam, and Tamil languages, and she is all set to enthrall with a new Film on OTT, Cheekatlo, set to stream on Prime Video soon. 

It is well known that she married actor Naga Chaitanya in December 2024. Even after her marriage, Sobhita has remained active on social media and has continued to make public appearances at events. 

The makers officially announced Sobhita Dhulipala’s first upcoming project after her marriage to Naga Chaitanya today, which is titled “Cheekatilo.” It is set for a direct OTT release on Amazon Prime Video and will start streaming from January 23. The film will be available in Telugu, Tamil, and Hindi.

In the poster, Sobhita appears in the role of a radio jockey, with an investigation-related setup visible in the background. This clearly indicates that the film belongs to the thriller genre. The movie is directed by Sharan Koppishetty, and actors Chaitanya Krishna and Vishwadev Rachakonda will be seen in important roles.

Parasakthi Postponed After Jana Nayagan

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Parasakthi Postponed After Jana Nayagan

The Kollywood Pongal clash has taken a dramatic turn, as both scheduled releases, Jana Nayagan and Parasakthi, have been postponed due to censor issues. Both films reportedly contain politically driven content, which is believed to be the main reason behind the problems they are facing.

Tamil movie lovers were eagerly waiting to watch Vijay’s final film on the big screen. However, Jana Nayagan ran into issues with the censor board and could not get immediate relief from the court. The final judgment regarding the film’s censor certificate is expected tomorrow. Similarly, Sivakarthikeyan’s Parasakthi is also facing censor-related hurdles, and reports suggest that the makers have already informed distributors about the postponement.

What was expected to be a major Pongal box-office clash in Kollywood has sadly turned into a disappointing situation due to censor issues affecting both films.

What is Jana Nayagan’s connection to politics?

Jana Nayagan, which is said to be a remake of the Telugu film Bhagavanth Kesari, portrays Vijay as a strong leader and a man who stands up for the common people. The film reportedly includes several political references linked to Vijay’s political party, Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), which is set to contest in this year’s Assembly elections.

Parasakthi also carries a political undertone in its narrative

Parasakthi, starring Sivakarthikeyan and directed by Sudha Kongara, is also said to have strong political themes. The film’s title is inspired by the 1952 classic starring legendary actor Sivaji Ganesan and focuses on language politics and the anti-Hindi movement. The film is distributed by Red Giant Movies, owned by Udhayanidhi Stalin, the Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu and son of Chief Minister M. K. Stalin.

Stream Akhanda 2 on OTT

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Stream Akhanda 2 on OTT

After facing unanimous mixed reviews and having a considerably decent run in theaters (despite the box office failure), Balakrishna and Boyapati Sreenu’s Akhanda sequel is set to make its digital debut. Fans can stream Akhanda 2 on OTT tonight on Netflix. 

The film will arrive on the OTT giant, Netflix, from tonight in all languages. As said above, the film disappointed a bit in theaters, collected more than 110 Cr gross worldwide, but resulted in big losses to buyers. The film was highly expected to perform big in Hindi, which did not happen, and it needs to be seen whether the Hindi viewers show some excitement to watch the film now, as they can stream Akhanda 2 on OTT tonight. 

While Nandamuri Balakrishna’s performance, including his character portrayal and delivery, stood out in Akhanda 2, the film, as a whole, fell short of delivering the intended grand, spiritual action experience. Many viewers noted issues with the thin plot, repetitive action sequences, lack of emotional connection, and some illogical scenes.

Parasakthi Censor Update: Key Details Inside

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Parasakthi Censor Update: Key Details Inside

It looks like the Tamil Box Office at Pongal will not see a smooth release of any film. Vijay’s Jana Nayagan, which was supposed to arrive in theaters tomorrow, has been postponed, and now, Sivakarthikeyan’s Parasakthi is also facing struggles as the censor certificate has not arrived yet. 

Reportedly, the censor board suggested many cuts (more than 25) in the film, including important core portions, and the team approached the Revising Committee.

After Jana Nayagan, Parasakthi faces scrutiny from the CBFC

The Revising Committee also suggested some changes, and the team has edited them accordingly. The committee watched the revised version today, and the Parasakthi team is awaiting the censor certificate by the end of the day.

The movie has been announced for a 10th January release, and it needs to be seen whether the film arrives on the said date, and to do so, it needs to clear the censoring process by the end of today.

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