Is Sitaare Zameen Par a hit or flop? As Aamir Khan film crosses ₹200 crore, we decode its box office performance

Aamir Khan's Sitaare Zameen Par has earned ₹217 crore worldwide, despite a slow start. We deduce if it is a box office hit yet.

Aamir Khan seems to have slayed the demons haunting his films at the box office. Over the last seven years, the actor has been seen in only two films - Thugs of Hindostan and Laal Singh Chaddha. Both were monumental box office failures. That is why his most recent release, Sitaare Zameen Par, was crucial for the superstar's future. Now that the film has crossed ₹200 crore worldwide, people are calling it a success. We decode if it really is so.

Sitaare Zameen Par box office performance decoded: Is the Aamir Khan film a hit or a flop?

Sitaare Zameen Par box office collection

The RS Prasanna directorial has earned ₹137.80 crore net ( ₹164.80 crore gross) in India in 15 days since it released in theatres. Add to it over $6 million gross from overseas, and Sitaare Zameen Par's worldwide gross stands at an impressive ₹217.50 crore. This makes it the fourth-highest-grossing Hindi film of 2025, behind only Chhaava, Housefull 5, and Raid 2. It is almost certain to enter the top 3 by the end of its run, and if the word of mouth sustains, it might just pip Housefull 5 to take the second spot, too.

Interestingly, Sitaare Zameen Par has already surpassed the lifetime India collections of Laal Singh Chaddha and Ghajini and will surpass Thugs of Hindostan this Sunday (July 6). Then, only four Aamir films remain in front of it - Dangal, PK, Dhoom 3, and 3 Idiots.

Is Sitaare Zameen Par a hit?

But does just being in the company of Aamir's biggest hits mean that Sitaare Zameen Par is a hit itself? After all, Adipurush earned over ₹300 crore worldwide and yet was a massive flop. Fortunately, for Sitaare Zameen Par, that is not the case. The film, produced by Aamir Khan Productions, has a production budget of just ₹90 crore. According to trade sources, after adding the marketing and publicity budget, the film's landing cost is under ₹150 crore. It has already earned more than that through its domestic collections alone.

Sitaare is still going strong, earning an estimated ₹7 crore worldwide on Saturday, the 16th day of its release. It showed a jump of over 140% on its third Saturday. These strong legs imply that the film won't die down for two more weeks, at least. Sitaare Zameen Par is already a hit, but it can just about be a superhit or even a blockbuster if it continues its run.

Will the absent streaming rights hurt Aamir Khan?

Sitaare Zameen Par is notable for being the only major Indian film in recent years to not sell its streaming rights for several crores. Aamir Khan made it clear that he does not intend to release the film on OTT, ever. So, the film has recovered some amount from music rights and satellite rights, but a big chunk of pre-release revenue is missing in the form of streaming rights. However, trade pundits argue that it may have worked in Aamir's favour.

Aamir Khan was felicitated by exhibitors for Sitaare Zameen Par's success.

Sitaare Zameen Par has shown jumps of 90-140% on each of the three Saturdays it has spent in the theatres. Clearly, the audience wants to see the film in theatres, partly because of the good reviews, and partly because they know it won't be on OTT once it leaves the theatres. That exclusivity has certainly bumped up the film's collections by a few crores, hopefully offsetting whatever Aamir stood to gain had he sold the rights.

But clearly, for Aamir, the non-release of Sitaare Zameen Par is not about money. It is about allowing the film a clean, distraction-free theatrical run. In that, he is succeeding. The glee of the exhibitors, who recently felicitated him as 'box office ka baap' is proof enough.