Box Office Report: ‘Happy Patel’, ‘Rahu Ketu’, and ‘One Two Cha Cha Cha’ Struggle on Opening Day; ‘The Raja Saab’ Continues to Falter

The box office witnessed a mixed Friday as three new releases—Happy Patel, Rahu Ketu, and One Two Cha Cha Cha—opened to a lukewarm response, while Prabhas’ The Raja Saab continued to struggle on its eighth day.

Opening Day Performance of New Releases
The three new films, all falling within the adventure-comedy genre, failed to make a significant impact on their first day. Happy Patel, starring Vir Das, collected approximately ₹1.25 crore domestically, falling short of expectations fueled by nostalgia from Delhi Belly, a cameo by Aamir Khan, and Vir Das’ urban popularity.

Rahu Ketu, featuring Pulkit Samrat and Varun Sharma, managed to earn ₹1 crore on opening day. Directed by Vipul Vig and also starring Shalini Pandey, Chunky Pandey, and Piyush Mishra, the film has received praise for its offbeat story, which may help its performance over the weekend.

Meanwhile, One Two Cha Cha Cha, directed by Abhishek Raj and Rajneesh Thakur and starring Ashutosh Rana, Naira Bajrani, Lalit Prabhakar, and Anant Joshi, had the weakest start, grossing only ₹16 lakh. The comedy received limited showings across theaters, limiting its reach and box office potential.

‘The Raja Saab’ Continues Its Struggle
Prabhas’ action-drama The Raja Saab, directed by Maruti, continues to face declining collections. Despite a strong opening weekend that crossed ₹100 crore across five languages, the film has struggled in subsequent weeks. On its eighth day, it earned ₹3.50 crore across all versions, down from ₹5.50 crore on Thursday, bringing its total domestic collection to ₹133.75 crore.

The Hindi-dubbed version has fared poorly, collecting just ₹33 lakh on Friday compared to ₹1.15 crore the previous day. Over eight days, the Hindi version has amassed only ₹22.13 crore, while the Telugu original remains the primary revenue driver with ₹109.74 crore. The film’s worldwide gross currently stands at ₹188.75 crore.

Continued Dominance of ‘Dhurandhar’
Interestingly, even six weeks after its release, Ranveer Singh’s Dhurandhar continues to outperform all new releases. On its 43rd day, the spy-action thriller, directed by Aditya Dhar, earned ₹1.65 crore domestically. Made on a budget of ₹280 crore, it has now collected ₹818.25 crore net in India and ₹1,275 crore worldwide. The upcoming release of Border 2 on 23 January is expected to impact its box office numbers further.

The current box office scenario highlights the challenges faced by small to mid-budget films in competing with established blockbusters and star-driven franchises.