Ananya Panday’s cousin Ahaan Panday is making his Bollywood debut in Mohit Suri’s upcoming musical romance Saiyaara, alongside Aneet Padda. The film is generating a lot of buzz, and the advance booking box office numbers are proof. Produced by Yash Raj Films, the early estimates indicate that the film might be a rare post-pandemic success for a film whose cast is debutant-led. In fact, the early numbers also suggest that the film might open to a double-digit box office collection on Friday.
According to box office tracker Sacnilk, the film has already earned Rs 4.41 crore through advance ticket sales for its first day, including Rs 1.8 crore from block bookings alone. Over 50,000 tickets have been sold so far for opening day shows. Industry estimates further predict that the pre-release ticket sales could cross the 1.5 lakh mark.
Mohit Suri’s last release Ek Villain Returns in 2022, which featured a more prominent cast including Arjun Kapoor and John Abraham, had only a Rs 7.05 crore opening, while Malang in 2020, despite its star cast, earned only Rs 6.71 crore on its first day.
In contrast, Saiyaara is already surpassing expectations. The film has almost matched the first-day earnings of Suri’s 2015 drama Hamari Adhuri Kahani Rs (4.95 crore) and is set to overtake Aashiqui 2, which had a Rs 6.1 crore opening.
Saiyaara also marks director Suri’s first collaboration with Yash Raj Films (YRF). Sharing his thoughts during the trailer launch, director Mohit Suri spoke about the casting journey. “I wouldn’t have made Saiyaara if I hadn’t found formidable actors like Ahaan Panday and Aneet Padda. I was honestly thinking about making something else before my path crossed with Yash Raj Films, which was looking for a young love story and was grooming Ahaan and Aneet to star in such a film,” he said.
The film is scheduled to hit theatres this Friday, where it will face competition from Anupam Kher’s coming-of-age drama Tanvi The Great and Nikita Roy, a psychological thriller directed by Kussh Sinha and led by Sonakshi Sinha. Meanwhile, international films such as F1, Jurassic World Rebirth, and James Gunn’s Superman are still having good runs at the box office.