Priyadarshan’s thriller gets a muted response in its opening weekend as Haiwaan earns ₹5.50 crore India net in two days and faces stiff competition from Mirzapur: The Movie and Hanuman Ansh.
By Ulta Palta Khabar Entertainment Desk | September 13, 2026
The Haiwaan box office collection has delivered an early reality check for Bollywood. Despite bringing together Akshay Kumar, Saif Ali Khan and director Priyadarshan, the action-thriller has struggled to create the kind of theatrical storm that would normally be expected from such a combination.
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Released on September 11, Haiwaan opened to approximately ₹3 crore in India net on Day 1 and added another ₹2.50 crore on Saturday, taking its two-day India net collection to around ₹5.50 crore. Its India gross has reached approximately ₹6.60 crore, while the overseas market has contributed around ₹2 crore, taking the film’s reported worldwide gross to ₹8.60 crore.
For a movie built around two major stars and a filmmaker with a celebrated track record, those numbers are undeniably subdued.
The bigger question now is whether Sunday’s business can rescue the film — or whether Haiwaan is heading toward a disappointing theatrical run.
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Haiwaan Box Office Day 2: Saturday Fails to Deliver a Big Jump
The second day was always expected to be crucial.
After a relatively soft opening, Haiwaan needed a significant Saturday jump to demonstrate that audience word-of-mouth was working in its favour. Instead, the film collected around ₹2.50 crore, representing a decline from its opening-day India net.
According to trade estimates, the film recorded modest occupancy and had difficulty converting its extensive show count into strong per-show collections.
That is the worrying part.
A film with this kind of cast should ideally be building momentum as the weekend progresses. Instead, Haiwaan entered Sunday still fighting to cross the ₹10 crore India net milestone.
The film’s current two-day performance therefore puts enormous pressure on Sunday collections.
Akshay Kumar and Saif Ali Khan’s Reunion Isn’t Enough
On paper, Haiwaan had almost everything needed for a major opening.
Akshay Kumar and Saif Ali Khan are sharing the screen again after a long gap, while Priyadarshan returns with a thriller rather than another comedy.
The film was also promoted as a suspense-heavy entertainer featuring Saif as a visually impaired caretaker caught in a dangerous situation and Akshay in a darker role.
The reunion itself created plenty of curiosity.
But the box office suggests that curiosity has not automatically translated into ticket sales.
That could have significant consequences for the film’s theatrical economics, particularly if the movie fails to show a sharp recovery on Sunday and Monday.
Priyadarshan Takes a Big Genre Gamble
One of the more interesting aspects of Haiwaan is that Priyadarshan deliberately stepped away from the comedy territory for which he and Akshay Kumar are particularly famous.
The film is a Hindi adaptation of Priyadarshan’s Malayalam thriller Oppam, but the director has maintained that the Hindi version was approached independently rather than simply reproducing the original scene by scene.
Priyadarshan had also explained before release that he wanted Akshay to explore a different side of himself.
Akshay reportedly pushed for the role because he had never played a psychotic character before.
That makes the film’s muted opening more significant than just a bad weekend.
If Haiwaan fails commercially, it could reinforce the difficult reality that changing an established star’s image is not always enough to bring audiences into theatres.
The Competition Is Hurting
Haiwaan is also arriving at an unusually crowded box-office window.
The film is competing for audience attention against Mirzapur: The Movie, which has the advantage of a huge established streaming fan base, while Hanuman Ansh continues its extraordinary theatrical run.
The latter is particularly interesting.
A film that began as a low-budget spiritual drama has become a box-office phenomenon, reportedly crossing ₹200 crore worldwide. Its continuing theatrical strength means Haiwaan is not competing only against new releases — it is also competing against a film with extremely strong word-of-mouth.
That makes the screen battle even tougher.
For multiplex audiences, there are now multiple options. For single-screen viewers, ticket pricing and show availability can also determine which film gets the weekend crowd.
The Reviews and Word-of-Mouth Factor
Early audience reactions to Haiwaan have been mixed, and that is perhaps the most important variable going into the second week.
A thriller cannot survive on star power alone.
The genre depends heavily on suspense, emotional investment and the audience’s willingness to recommend the film to others. If viewers leave the theatre feeling that the mystery does not justify the ticket price, the film can experience a sharp fall after the opening weekend.
On the other hand, if Sunday audiences respond more positively, Haiwaan still has a chance to stabilise.
The next 48 hours will therefore be critical.
The Blind Caretaker Story Could Be the Film’s Biggest Weapon
At the centre of Haiwaan is Shyam, a blind caretaker who becomes the prime suspect in the murder of retired Judge Pradhan.
He is forced to escape the police while attempting to protect Nandini, Pradhan’s hidden daughter, from the relentless killer Parshuram.
The journey eventually reveals a secret about Nandini that changes the stakes of the story.
That premise gives the film a potentially strong thriller hook.
Saif Ali Khan’s visually impaired character also allows the actor to build suspense through physical performance rather than conventional action-hero theatrics.
Meanwhile, Akshay Kumar’s darker character is positioned as a major contrast to Saif.
The problem for the box office is that a good premise still needs strong audience conversion.
What Happens If Haiwaan Doesn’t Recover?
If the film fails to produce a substantial Sunday jump, its first-week trajectory could become difficult.
A weak Monday would be particularly damaging because the film’s theatrical run would then depend heavily on a limited pool of loyal viewers rather than broad audience demand.
The consequences could extend beyond Haiwaan itself.
For Akshay Kumar, the film becomes another reminder that star power alone cannot guarantee an opening. For Saif, whose performance has reportedly attracted appreciation, the film could still work as an example of his continued willingness to experiment with demanding roles.
For Priyadarshan, the stakes are slightly different.
Haiwaan represents an attempt to revisit one of his acclaimed Malayalam thrillers for a Hindi-speaking audience while reuniting with Akshay in a completely different genre.
A weak commercial result would not erase the director’s reputation, but it could make producers more cautious about similarly positioned big-star thrillers.
Can Sunday Change the Narrative?
The good news for Haiwaan is that the game is not over.
The film has completed only two days of its theatrical run, and Sunday’s numbers can still change the conversation.
If the movie records a strong jump, crosses the ₹10 crore India net mark comfortably and then maintains reasonable collections on Monday, the opening weekend could eventually be described as slow rather than disastrous.
But if Sunday remains muted, the film’s box-office future will look considerably more challenging.
At the moment, ₹5.50 crore India net and ₹8.60 crore worldwide after two days is not the start the makers would have wanted from an Akshay Kumar-Saif Ali Khan-Priyadarshan thriller.
The weekend has one final chance to change the mood.
And Bollywood’s latest box-office lesson is already becoming clear: in 2026, even two major stars and a celebrated director need audience urgency to turn a theatrical release into an event.
For Haiwaan, Sunday is no longer just another day at the box office.
It is the film’s first real test of survival.
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