Sitaare Zameen Par Box Office: Aamir Khan’s Basketball Drama Opens Worldwide with ₹20 Crore, Spurs Hope for Bigger Weekend
Sitaare Zameen Par: A Promising Start for Aamir Khan’s Latest Sports Drama
There’s always a buzz when Aamir Khan is back in theaters, and this week’s release, Sitaare Zameen Par, is no exception. The film launched with a solid ₹20 crore worldwide on its first day—enough to spark conversation, even if it’s not record-shattering by today’s Bollywood standards.
Let’s break down those numbers. Within India, audiences shelled out ₹10.70 crore net, most of it from the Hindi version. The Tamil and Telugu dubs chipped in small sums, but the home crowd clearly drove the excitement. Adding taxes and extra earnings, the domestic gross climbed to ₹12.85 crore. Overseas watchers, from the usual strongholds in the Gulf and UK to select US and Southeast Asian screens, pitched in another ₹7.15 crore. That brings the overall take to ₹20 crore—healthy, but not quite touching the ₹25.7 crore and ₹26 crore that *Raid 2* and *Sikandar* recently pulled off.
Comparisons are inevitable. Aamir’s previous film, *Laal Singh Chaddha*, grabbed ₹11.7 crore on its first day back in 2022, a shade ahead of this. Yet, some misses aren’t really misses. This film already outpaced *Kesari Chapter 2*’s ₹15 crore worldwide debut, putting it ahead of at least some of the year’s high-profile titles. Its occupancy in cinemas tells a similar story: while Hindi screenings filled just over 21% of seats overall, the surge after dark—33% during night shows—suggests word is spreading and crowds are warming up.
The Film, the Cast, and the Legacy
Sitaare Zameen Par isn’t just a return for Aamir; it’s a spiritual sequel to his much-loved Taare Zameen Par from 2007. The new film, directed by R.S. Prasanna, swings into sports drama territory. This time, Aamir plays a basketball coach guiding a team of neurodivergent athletes—a plotline that brings a fresh, underrepresented angle to the usually slick world of Bollywood sports films.
A big draw here is the cast. Alongside Genelia D’Souza, who brings her trademark energy, there’s a pack of 10 first-time actors—all playing aspiring basketball players dealing with various challenges. These newcomers—names like Aroush Datta, Vedant Sharmaa, and Simran Mangeshkar—aren’t stars yet, but their raw, lived-in performances are one of the film’s highlights. It’s a risk, sure, but it’s also led to some unanimously positive reactions on social media, with early viewers praising the film for its ‘heart’ and relatability.
Early momentum is crucial for any Bollywood film, and the signs point to a possible surge in the coming days. If the positive buzz keeps going, and families head out in bigger numbers over the weekend, Sitaare Zameen Par could see its opening tally grow into something more substantial. For now, Aamir Khan’s signature blend of emotion and entertainment seems to be paying off, and the basketball drama has its eye on a bigger game ahead.