Priyadarshan’s Haiwaan is not getting the Sunday bounce a mainstream Hindi release needs. The Akshay Kumar and Saif Ali Khan starrer, a remake of the Malayalam film Oppam, opened to mixed reviews on September 11 and has stayed soft across its first weekend. Mohanlal, who led the original, makes a special appearance in the Hindi version.
Early Sunday numbers
Sacnilk data cited in the trade report shows the film running across 2,383 shows on Sunday, with about Rs 0.46 crore collected by early afternoon. That takes the India net total to Rs 5.96 crore and the gross to Rs 7.14 crore, with final day figures still to be reported.
- Day 1: Rs 3 crore India net
- Day 2: Rs 2.50 crore India net
- Day 3 (early): Rs 0.46 crore India net
- Total: Rs 5.96 crore India net, Rs 7.14 crore gross
The early Sunday snapshot works out to roughly Rs 1,930 per show, but because the day is not complete, it is not a final hold rate. The day-two decline from Rs 3 crore to Rs 2.50 crore was about 17 percent—not a collapse, but also not the upward curve a star-led release needs after mixed reviews.
Why this is a screen-share problem
The film is sharing cinemas with Mirzapur: The Movie, directed by Gurmeet Singh and led by Pankaj Tripathi, Ravi Kishan and Ali Fazal, and Hanuman Ansh, directed by Vishal Chaturvedi. In a three-way clash, show count and show timing decide the ceiling more than cast size. A streaming-born franchise such as Mirzapur brings built-in awareness to the big screen, while a devotional title can draw a different, highly motivated audience.
Two structural factors also work against Haiwaan. The CBFC gave the film a U/A 16+ certificate on September 8, which limits the family audience. Its certified runtime is 164 minutes and 7 seconds, roughly 2 hours and 44 minutes, which means fewer shows per screen each day.
What the final Sunday number will signal
For distribution and media planning teams, the key data point is whether the final day three figure climbs back toward the Rs 3 crore opening mark. If it lands at that level, the opening weekend would be around Rs 8.5 crore net; if it stays low, the title risks an opening frame that does not build momentum.
The bigger lesson is about remake equity. Priyadarshan’s Malayalam original Oppam gave the material a proven story, but Hindi audiences are currently splitting attention across a streaming-born franchise and a devotional title. Star power can drive sampling, but screen density, runtime and certification are doing more work here. For media planners, the takeaway is to weigh show inventory and competing event titles before assuming that a proven story will convert to first-weekend demand.
Source: The Times of India
