Aamir Khan is returning to the big screen after three years with his new film Sitaare Zameen Par, which releases this Friday. Expectations are high because the film is considered a spiritual sequel to his 2007 hit Taare Zameen Par. However, ticket sales so far have been slow.
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According to reports, the advance bookings opened late due to a delay in certification from the CBFC (Central Board of Film Certification). Even after bookings opened, only around ₹1 crore worth of tickets were sold by Thursday morning — just a day before the release. This is considered a low figure for a major Aamir Khan film.
In comparison, Aamir’s last film Laal Singh Chaddha had collected ₹5.52 crore in advance bookings. Other recent films like Jaat (₹2.37 crore) and Kesari Chapter 2 (₹1.84 crore) are also ahead of Sitaare Zameen Par. Big films like Salman Khan’s Sikandar (₹10.09 crore) and Akshay Kumar’s Housefull 5 (₹8.02 crore) are far ahead in terms of pre-release collections.
This slow start is worrying for the filmmakers, especially since it’s not even ahead of some movies that didn’t perform well.
Still, some industry experts believe there’s hope. Film trade analyst Atul Mohan shared that Aamir’s films often start slow but pick up later if they receive good word of mouth. He pointed out that this film is more emotional and not a typical mass entertainer, which could explain the slow beginning. The film’s success will now depend on audience reactions in the first couple of days.
Directed by RS Prasanna, Sitaare Zameen Par tells the story of a basketball coach (played by Aamir) who trains a team of children with special needs. The film also features Genelia D’Souza and introduces 10 debut actors with special needs.
