Prabhas Has Stamina To Halt Dhurandhar Rampage, Says Hemanth Madhukar

With Bollywood star Ranveer Singh riding high on the blockbuster success of Dhurandhar, which has been dominating the box office for the past three to four weeks and has reportedly crossed Rs 1,100 crore worldwide and still counting, attention has now shifted to which film can slow down its unprecedented run. According to director Hemanth Madhukar, only Prabhas’ upcoming film The Raja Saab has that potential.

“Prabhas has the stamina and crowd-pulling prowess on par with Bollywood superstars like Aamir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan and earlier Amitabh Bachchan. Like them, he can draw audiences purely on the strength of his name. The Raja Saab is bound to register massive openings,” says Hemanth.

He adds that Telugu cinema should feel proud of Prabhas’ achievements at the box office. “Very few actors have delivered two Rs 1,000 crore-plus films like Baahubali 2 and Kalki 2898 AD. Prabhas is on the verge of a hat-trick in elite club, which would be an invincible feat if he achieves it,” he says.

Hemanth believes that comparisons between Prabhas and Ranveer Singh are unfair. “Prabhas has attained a larger-than-life image and is far ahead of many Tamil and Bollywood stars in terms of box-office reach. Dhurandhar is an intense and gripping film with outstanding performances by Ranveer Singh, Akshaye Khanna and Sanjay Dutt, making it a perfect blend of strong storytelling, performances and technical finesse. However, Prabhas has managed to pull massive crowds even with less intense narratives, which clearly shows his box-office supremacy,” he points out.

The director also highlights the importance of The Raja Saab’s North Indian release. The film is being distributed in Hindi by Anil Thadani, who has previously proved to be a lucky charm for Prabhas among Hindi-speaking audiences. “The Raja Saab will see a huge release across North and Western India, along with the South and worldwide, and is expected to deliver sensational openings to surpass Prabhas’ previous records,” he says.

Hemanth further notes that The Raja Saab marks Prabhas’ first foray into the horror genre. “Hindi audiences are currently lapping up spooky thrillers, as seen with Stree 2 which grossed nearly Rs 800 crore. Combine that trend with Prabhas’ charisma, and one can imagine the kind of collections the film could achieve if it strikes the right chord with the masses,” he concludes.