Believe it or not, this is actually happening. The reason for this is the silly superstition that whichever big hero acts in a SS Rajamouli film, his next project tanks. There were whispers to this effect in the run-up to Saaho’s release and they have turned into a “See, I told you so” after the movie released to negative reviews.

Also read : What did critics say about Saaho?

So the debacle of Saaho is not being blamed on its makers but on the fact that Prabhas last acted in Rajamouli’s Baahubali. They say there is a pattern to it because the last time Prabhas acted in Rajamouli’s `Chatrapati’, which was a superhit, he followed it with `Pournami’ which tanked. 

Ditto with NTR who has done three movies with Rajamouli and there seems to be a similar pattern. `Student No. 1′ was a hit followed by a flop `Subbu’. His next movie with Rajamouli was `Simhadri’, a roaring success but `Andhrawaala’ sank without a trace. `Yamadonga’ was an entertaining movie from the Rajamouli stable but NTR could not replicate its success with `Kantri’ that followed. 

Likewise they point out that after delivering a hit with `Magadheera’, Ram Charan dished out a dud in `Orange’. Incidentally, Ram Charan and NTR are playing the lead roles in Rajamouli’s next production, titled `RRR’ for now.

Rajamouli gave Ravi Teja one of the biggest hits of his career with `Vikramarkudu’ (remade in Hindi as `Rowdy Rathore’ with Akshay Kumar) but `Khatarnak’ that followed, flopped.

This pattern would make one believe that the heroes who have acted with Rajamouli have not delivered flops except the move that followed a Rajamouli flick. What the makers of `Saaho’ need to do is to to take one hard look at their product to see why and where they went so horribly wrong. An easier option would be to read the reviews. 

Saaho’s biggest problem is that it substituted a storyline with style and special effects. It took the audience for granted by assuming it will accept anything that has Prabhas in the frame.