Sitaare Zameen Par advance booking crawls past ₹1 crore; Aamir Khan film still trailing Kesari Chapter 2, Jaat, Sikandar

Sitaare Zameen Par advance booking is trailing behind the most recent releases of Akshay Kumar, Salman Khan, and even Sunny Deol.

Aamir Khan's Sitaare Zameen Par is set to hit the screens this Friday. The film marks the superstar's return to the big screen for the first time in three years. Even as the last two films from Aamir - Thugs of Hindostan and Laal Singh Chaddha - did not do well, expectations were high from Sitaare Zameen Par. More so because the film is a spiritual sequel to his classic Taare Zameen Par.

Sitaare Zameen Par advance booking: Aamir Khan film is facing a slow start.

Sitaare Zameen Par advance booking

The advance booking for Sitaare Zameen Par opened only late Tuesday night, just over two days before the release. According to sources, a delay in certification from the CBFC led to this. However, the sales of tickets have not taken off in the 36 hours that they have been open. According to Sacnilk, Sitaare Zameen Par advance booking for its opening day crossed ₹1 crore around 9 am on Thursday, just 24 hours before the film hits the theatres. This is a rather low number for an Aamir Khan film. Barring a late surge on Thursday, it looks unlikely that the film's advance booking will cross Aamir's previous film - Laal Singh Chaddha - which brought in ₹5.52 crore in advance booking gross.

Sitaare Zameen Par is also trailing some other superstarry releases from 2025, with Jaat ( ₹2.37 crore), Kesari Chapter 2 ( ₹1.84 crore), both ahead of it. And while Sitaare Zameen Par may cross these two marks, the advance collections of Salman Khan's Sikandar ( ₹10.09 crore) and Akshay Kumar's Housefull 5 ( ₹8.02 crore) will be out of its reach. That Sitaare Zameen Par is yet to cross the advance booking collections of unsuccessful films like Kesari Chapter 2 and Laal Singh Chaddha should be a cause of concern for the makers. It is certainly an indicator of a slow start.

Can Sitaare Zameen Par defy the low advance booking trend?

Despite the low buzz in advance bookings, some are still hopeful that the film may bounce back after the opening day. Film trade analyst Atul Mohan says, "Aamir Khan's films, barring Thugs of Hindostan and Dhoom 3, are known to be slow openers, and then build on word of mouth. And those two were massy films, which Sitaare Zameen Par is not. So, I still have hope that the film can do well even after a slow start, provided it builds some positive word of mouth." That word of mouth will totally depend on early audience reactions, particularly over the first two days. And with an extremely low opening, which looks likely, it will be a massive uphill battle for the film.

Directed by RS Prasanna, Sitaare Zameen Par stars Aamir as a basketball coach leading a team of special needs' children. The film also stars Genelia D'Souza, and marks the debuts of 10 special needs' actors.