Unlikely Box Office Rival Emerges For Prabhas' The Raja Saab, Thalapathy Vijay's Jana Nayagan

January 2026 has some much-awaited movies lined up for release. The box office is likely to start with a bang, with Prabhas starrer The Raja Saab and Thalapathy Vijay's Jana Nayagan all set to take over the cinema halls in the festive Sankranthi period. The two movies have a lot of anticipation riding on them. On one hand, Jana Nayagan marks the final film of Kollywood star Vijay before he devotes himself fully to politics, on the other, The Raja Saab is a horror comedy and will see Prabhas play a role different from his recent blockbuster actioners. 

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Both Jana Nayagan and The Raja Saab will be releasing in Hindi also. To hype the movies in the North Indian markets, they also feature prominent Bollywood stars. Opposite Vijay, Bobby Deol will be seen as the antagonist, while in The Raja Saab, Sanjay Dutt and Boman Irani play pivotal roles. 

Even as there are expectations from the Hindi market, Jana Nayagan and The Raja Saab will likely face competition at the box office from this year's viral Gujarati hit Laalo: Krishna Sada Sahaayate. The team behind the highest grossing Gujarati movie of all time has announced that Laalo will be released in Hindi on January 9, the same date as Jana Nayagan (Hindi title Jana Neta) and The Raja Saab.

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Laalo started off slow at the box office after releasing on October 20 but strong word of mouth helped it enjoy an extraordinary run in cinema halls, which continues till date. Reportedly, Laalo is made on a budget of mere ₹50 lakh and has grossed ₹112 crore and counting in India and around ₹7.50 crore overseas in 76 days. Since the theme of the film is devotional, it is likely that Laalo may find audiences in North India. Previously, regional movies with divine themes like the Kantara franchise, Mahavatar Narsimha, Karthikeya and many more have done very well in North India. With Laalo, a similar outcome is expected come January 9. If Laalo picks up in Hindi then Jana Nayagan and The Raja Saab are likely to struggle.