The Raja Saab collected an unremarkable USD 2.60 million (Rs. 23.50 crore) approx on its opening day overseas, including USD 1.70 million previews from Thursday. Most of the overseas business came from the United States, where the film collected USD 1.70 million approx, including USD 1.35 million from the previews. On Friday, the film had a very limited walk-up business, which doesn’t bode well for its full run prospects. 

The overseas business in general is quite frontloaded for Telugu films, unless they get appreciation for the Hindi versions. If the reception isn’t favourable, they could fizzle out quickly, and that might be the case here, going by Friday business in the US. The overseas first weekend is likely to wrap under USD 5 million. It might be that the film struggles to reach there in full run, when Telugu biggies are aiming for the opening day.

Combined with Rs. 66.50 crore from India, the worldwide business amounted to Rs. 90 crore. That seems like a big number, but not in the context of how Telugu films operate. The Rs. 100 crore worldwide opening day is seen as a sort of benchmark for Indian films, and this film is just slightly short of that. However, a Rs. 100 crore first day for a Telugu film doesn’t mean the same as it does for a Bollywood film. A much fairer comparison is to just segregate Telugu films.

Nine Telugu films have managed a Rs. 100 crore worldwide first day, out of which five belong to Prabhas, who has consistently delivered them since 2017, with the exception of Radhe Shyam and now this.

The Top Worldwide Opening Days for Tollywood are as follows:

Rank
Title
Year
Gross

1
Pushpa: The Rule
2024
Rs. 256.50 cr.

2
Baahubali: The Conclusion
2017
Rs. 199.25 cr.

3
RRR
2022
Rs. 190.00 cr.

4
Kalki 2898 AD
2024
Rs. 161.00 cr.

5
Salaar
2023
Rs. 143.25 cr.

6
Devara
2024
Rs. 131.25 cr.

7
They Call Him OG
2025
Rs. 129.25 cr.

8
Saaho
2019
Rs. 116.00 cr.

9
Adipurush
2023
Rs. 104.50 cr.

10
The Raja Saab
2025
Rs. 90.00 cr.

At this point, for Telugu biggies, it’s more about which one misses Rs. 100 crore first day rather than which scores. Chiranjeevi and Mahesh Babu are two A-listers to not feature in the above list, while Ram Charan hasn’t made it with a solo lead. For Mahesh, Varanasi is a sure shot to be in there, likely over Rs. 200 crore. Ram Charan may make it with Peddi this year.

ALSO READ: The Raja Saab Box Office Collections: Prabhas starrer amasses 67 crore first day in India