This Friday marks the release of Aamir Khan's Sitaare Zameen Par in theaters. For the first time in three years, the picture signals the superstar's comeback to the big screen. Despite the failure of Aamir's previous two movies, Thugs of Hindostan and Laal Singh Chaddha, there was still a lot of anticipation for Sitaare Zameen Par. Additionally, the movie serves as a spiritual follow-up to his iconic Taare Zameen Par.

Advance reservation of stars on the ground

Only late on Tuesday night, little over two days before the film's release, did advance booking for Sitaare Zameen Par become available. This was allegedly caused by a delay in certification from the CBFC, according to sources. In the 36 hours since tickets went on sale, though, sales haven't really caught on. Sacnilk reports that the advance booking for Sitaare Zameen Par's debut day surpassed ₹1 crore at approximately 9 a.m. on Thursday, only 24 hours before the film was released in theaters. For a movie by Aamir Khan, this figure is pretty modest. With the exception of a late burst on Thursday, it seems improbable that the movie's advance bookings would surpass the ₹5.52 crore in advance booking gross for Aamir's previous film, Laal Singh Chaddha.

With Jaat (₹2.37 crore) and Kesari Chapter 2 (₹1.84 crore) ahead of it, Sitaare Zameen Par is behind some other superstar releases from 2025 as well. Even if Sitaare Zameen Par crosses these two thresholds, it won't be able to match the advance collections of Salman Khan's Sikandar (10.09 crore) and Akshay Kumar's Housefull 5 (8.02 crore). The fact that Sitaare Zameen Par has not yet exceeded the advance booking receipts of failed movies like Laal Singh Chaddha and Kesari Chapter 2 should worry the filmmakers. It is unquestionably a sign of a sluggish beginning.

Is it possible for Sitaare Zameen Par to buck the trend of low advance bookings?

Although advance bookings have been slow, there are still some who think the picture may rebound after its release. "Aamir Khan's movies, with the exception of Thugs of Hindostan and Dhoom 3, are known to be slow openers and then grow on word of mouth," claims Atul Mohan, a film industry expert. And unlike Sitaare Zameen Par, those two movies were huge. Therefore, even if the movie has a sluggish beginning, I still have faith that it can perform well if it generates some favorable word-of-mouth. The early audience response, especially over the first two days, will determine how much positive word of mouth there is. And if the film opens at a very low level, which is probable, it will have a hard time.

In Sitaare Zameen Par, which is directed by RS Prasanna, Aamir plays a basketball coach who heads a team of kids with special needs. Genelia D'Souza co-stars in the movie, which also features the debut performances of ten actors with special needs.

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