A mishmash of moods held together by preposterous musical numbers is part of the appeal of most Indian cinema, but Telugu-language The RajaSaab holds together worse than most. There are three movies inside The RajaSaab struggling to get out: a haunted-house horror thriller, a paean to the grandmothers who raised us, and a sizzle reel for its big star. The horror is gory enough that it’s not appropriate for kids, the star is undermined by the massive amounts of special effects in his fights, and the grandmother’s character is entirely based on the needs of the plot instead of a human personality. This will make little difference to its initial box-office – I attended an opening-day screening in London during office hours that was completely sold out, and people were so excited to be there they were actually throwing confetti during the big moments – but there are other amusements on offer.
That said: Raju (the utterly beloved Prabhas), who is described in the gangbuster opening number as “India’s most eligible bachelor,” lives with his grandmother Gangamma (Zarina Wahab) who has the movie version of Alzheimer’s that only kicks in when it’s funny and/or helpful to the plot. She spends her time obsessing over the husband who walked out decades ago, Kanakaraju (Sanjay Dutt) and stretching the care capabilities of Raju and his friend Anitha (Riddhi Kumar) to the limit. It transpires that Kanakaraju is still alive so Raju leaves home with a bag full of cash to track him down. Further events transpire which mean Raju firstly falls in love with a postulant nun called Bessy (Nidhhi Agerwal) and secondly gives a hickey to another woman called Bhairavi (Malavika Mohanan, who had the good musical-instrument fight scene in Yudhra) while blackout drunk. Bhairavi’s connection to Kanakaraju makes it clear that he was not the good guy Gangamma taught Raju he was, and secondly tracking him down is going to be harder than anybody thought. And that’s before the main lead plus some comic relief all get trapped in the scary mansion in the forest. In that big house (the largest set ever built for an Indian movie) hairless cats walk on walls, headless bodies are rotting in the well, and sometimes the floor turns to blood. But at least there’s great phone signal, not to mention the magic wardrobe full of everyone’s costume changes, so everyone is remarkably calm about it.
For a horror movie, even a lighthearted one, there’s a little too much calm. There were enormous possibilities for comedy and/or tragedy in Raju’s carelessness at causing three women to fall in love with him. Instead the women are united in their irritation at his sloppy behaviour, and none of them, even the nun who evidently renounces her calling, seems super invested. The musical numbers largely being group affairs underline this. What’s more the haunted-house torments are so few and far between Bhairavi begins working her way through the library full of modern English-language first editions. Instead Raju’s main concern is for his grandmother’s health and happiness. The flashback scenes to her youth (which was lavish enough her family kept elephants as pets in their palace) offer an image of a fairytale existence that writer-director Maruthi seems to think we’ll take literally, or at least as literally as the not-to-be-spoilered ending implies. Fortunately, as in the church sequences where there’s a brief shot directly comparing Raju to Jesus, it’s ridiculous instead of offensive.
Maybe that’s The RajaSaab’s trouble: trying to appeal to everybody made all its drama ridiculous. For one example, a large part of the big finale involves Raju wrestling a crocodile, but the animal is entirely CGI (common in Indian cinema, where the taboo on harming animals goes beyond animal-rights militancy in the west) meaning that despite all the wirework and how into it Prabhas gets it’s just not very interesting. For another, the focus on Raju’s excellence as a grandson enables his mediocre behaviour as a potential husband to become a joke. This plays into Prabhas’ personal image, but isn’t much to watch. Finally the gross-out nature of the horror in the haunted house falls in the wrong part of the uncanny valley. It’s all so clearly fake it’s impossible to be scared. Not even the out-for-a-good-time opening crowd I was in could manage much of a response. The ending of the movie teases a circus-themed sequel, so it’s clear there could be more where this came from. But there’s not enough of a good time in The RajaSaab to make that something to look forward to.
The RajaSaab is now in theaters.
Learn more about the film at the IMDB site for the title.
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