'Saaho' box office prediction: Prabhas' film expected to record highest-opening, beat 'Thugs of Hindostan'

Prabhas is all set for the release of his upcoming film ‘Saaho’ as a lot of money rides on his action-thriller after the star delivered back-to-back superhits with ‘Baahubali’ films. 

Releasing on August 30, the film is expected to change the fortunes of this year after Marvel blockbuster ‘Avengers: Endgame’ and ‘Kabir Singh’ that proved to be the two most successful films. 

According to trade analyst Girish Johar, ‘Saaho’ is expected to pinch around Rs 15-20 crore in its Hindi version. He was quoted, “The buzz is very good. Prabhas and Shraddha are among the top actors and the response to the trailer is outstanding. It is a non-festive but a very wide release in Hindi. A non-holiday opening of Rs 15-20 crore would be fantastic, considering how some Bollywood actors struggle to deliver an opening of even Rs 10 crore,” he says.

On comparison with ‘Baahubali’, he said, “It would not be fair to compare Saaho with Baahubali. It was a traditional Indian, desi mythological film. Saaho is a contemporary, sleek, stylish and upmarket film. Prabhas is a star and is coming after delivering two of the biggest blockbusters but it's not right to compare them.”

‘Saaho’ will be released simultaneously in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam along with Hindi. 

On the film’s other language versions, Girish said, “The film should open at roughly Rs 35 crore in Telugu, Rs 15 crore in Tamil and Rs 3-5 crore in Malayalam. The film should open across India at around Rs 60-70 crore in all languages.”

If the film opens above Rs 60 crore, it can easily beat the record of the highest Bollywood opener, Aamir Khan and Amitabh Bachchan-starrer, ‘Thugs of Hindostan’, which opened at Rs 50 crore. 

Meanwhile, analyst Ramesh Bala said, “Baahubali 2 is the biggest grosser in India... Saaho is Prabhas ‘s next movie after Baahubali 2. So the expectations are sky-high... The movie is releasing in several languages. A solo release on Aug 30th.. 1,500 screens in Telugu states and 550 screens in Tamil Nadu.”

‘Saaho’ will run in around 5000-6000 screens in India including 3500 screens in Hindi. 

The film also stars Jackie Shroff, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Chunky Panday, Arun Vijay, Mandira Bedi and Mahesh Manjrekar.

Meanwhile, the film has already earned Rs 320 crore before its release.