‘Saiyaara’, the romantic drama directed by Mohit Suri, has opened to a stellar response at the Indian box office. The film starrer debutant Ahaan Panday in the lead, has scored an impressive Rs 20 crore (India net) haul on its opening day at the ticket windows, according to early estimates by sacnilk. The film, which marks the big-screen debut of Ahaan alongside Aneet Padda, beat all expectations and early box office predictions to score this impressive feat. The film’s initial box office projections, based on advance bookings and blocked seats, was set to be around Rs 9.39 crore to Rs 12.49 crore. However, according to the reports, the film has surpassed these predictions, setting it up to be a potential sleeper hit.Saiyaara recorded a 49.90% occupancy in Hindi-speaking regions on Friday. The film performed particularly well in cities like Jaipur, Lucknow, Bengaluru, Kolkata, and the National Capital Region (NCR), where theatre occupancy rates were among the highest in the country. Mumbai recorded an estimated 43% overall occupancy rate. Trade analysts are crediting the film’s success to a combination of fresh casting, music, and Suri’s emotional storytelling, which seems to have struck a chord with younger audiences. This impressive Rs 20 crore debut for Panday, comes at a time when several other star kids, latest being Shanaya Kapoor, who failed to rake in even Rs 2 crore at the box office in the first week of the release of her debut film ‘Aankhon Ki Gustaakhiyan’.‘Saiyaara’ also beat out Hollywood films like ‘Superman’ and ‘Jurassic World Rebirth’, both of which earned under Rs 10 crore on their opening day at the Indian box office. This film is expected to continue its upward trend at the box office and record a strong opening weekend. All eyes will now turn to Day 2 to see if the film can maintain its momentum and set a new box office record.
