After a brief lull, the coming Friday will see a host of film releases. On January 9, 2026, two of South India’s biggest stars Prabhas and Thalapathy Vijay are set for a box office clash, and early advance booking numbers for both the film give reasonable idea into which film the audiences are looking forward to watch. Is it Vijay’s last film Jana Nayagan or Prabhas’ visual spectacle The Raja Saab? Here’s what to know.
Jana Nayagan advance collections break records
Directed by H Vinoth, Jana Nayagan is being touted as Vijay’s swansong before his full-time political entry. The sentiment around his departure from the film industry has translated into massive pre-release traction.
The Thalapathy Vijay-starrer is raking in moolah even before its release. According to Sacnilk, the film has collected Rs 35 crore in worldwide pre-sales while in India, it has amassed Rs 7 crore in advance sales so far with Karnataka alone accounting for Rs 4 crore. It’s clear that the major chunk of the collections are coming from the overseas markets, where the film has already touched the Rs 25 crore mark, showing the massive craze around the Tamil movie star’s final movie.
In Malaysia, where the makers recently held a grand audio launch, Jana Nayagan sold an unexpected 50,000 tickets within just two hours, becoming the fastest ticket sale ever for an Indian film in the country. The UK has also seen strong demand, with over 50,000 tickets already sold. Despite limited shows being available so far in Vijay’s home state of Tamil Nadu, the film has still managed to gross nearly Rs 1 crore from advance bookings there also.
Rs 300 to Rs 2000: Highest and lowest ticket prices for Jana Nayagan
Jana Nayagan tickets in Bengaluru are selling like hot cakes and the most expensive of them are being priced at Rs 2000. Advance booking for Jana Nayagan has also opened in Karnataka, and almost all the morning show tickets – priced between Rs 1000 and Rs 2000 are sold out. According to Hindustan Times, theatres like Mukunda has a 6:30 AM show for the film on the release date, priced at Rs 1800 and Rs 2000. All tickets have been sold out on BookMyShow.
Morning shows at theatres like Swagath Shankar Nag, Sri Vinayaka, Cinephile HSR Layout, Gopalan Grand Mall, Sri Krishna, Brundha RGB, Vaibhav, Prasanna, and more have also sold out, with tickets priced between Rs 1000 and Rs 1500, adds the HT report.
The lowest price for morning show tickets is Rs 800 at select theatres. The shows, beginning at 9:30 AM and 10 AM, have a pricing range of Rs 300 to Rs 800.
The Raja Saab ticket sales remain muted
The Raja Saab, Prabhas’s first foray into the horror-comedy genre, is directed by Maruthi. The Telugu film made on a grand scale and high budget, has an ensemble cast featuring Sanjay Dutt, Malavika Mohanan, Nidhhi Agerwal, and Boman Irani.
“The RajaSaab (Hindi version) may be witnessing muted ground-level buzz, but there is no question of a postponement. The film is firmly on course for its scheduled release on 9 January 2026. The subdued hype can largely be attributed to limited promotional activity in the Hindi markets so far. As a result, awareness beyond the core fan base is yet to reach its full potential. That said, one hopes the promotional push gathers momentum during the release week. A robust marketing blitz in the release week could help the film build traction and enhance its prospects at the box office,” said trade expert Taran Adarsh on lukewarm response the film is receiving.
To improve its cinematic experience, The Raja Saab has reportedly been trimmed by 15–20 minutes, bringing its final runtime to around 2 hours and 55 minutes, according to Sacnilk. The makers are hoping the tighter cut will improve audience engagement.
Internationally, the film has opened advance bookings on a promising note, selling over 17,500 tickets each in North America and the UK, with US premiere pre-sales already crossing Rs 425,000, said Sacnilk.
Verdict
For now it’s increasingly becoming clear that it’s Jana Nayagan that is leading the race while The Raja Saab lags behind, ahead of its January 9, 2026 release.
While audience interest on BookMyShow favour Vijay’s film with Jana Nayagan clocking over 695,000 interests compared to The Raja Saab’s 409,000, industry insiders as well as director Hemanth Madhukar have said The Raja Saab has the potential to challenge the massive run of recent blockbuster Dhurandhar, as per Sacnilk.