Daayra box office collection on day one stood at an estimated ₹90 lakh net in India, according to the tracker Sacnilk. That is a slow opening for Meghna Gulzar’s crime thriller, which pairs Kareena Kapoor Khan with Prithviraj Sukumaran for the first time. The film reached cinemas on Friday, September 18, 2026, in Hindi and Malayalam. It also lost the day to Kunal Kemmu’s comedy Vibe, and one trade roundup found that Hanuman Ansh, a film in its seventh week, out-earned both new releases. Reviews have been warmer than the ticket sales, which makes this weekend unusually important.
Daayra box office collection: why day-one figures differ from site to site
Sacnilk puts India net at ₹0.90 crore and gross at about ₹1.08 crore, with overall occupancy of 11.65% across more than 2,200 shows. The day built slowly. Live tracking showed only about ₹0.14 crore by early afternoon and ₹0.63 crore by 8 pm. Evening and night shows lifted the final estimate. Night-show occupancy reached 16.31%, and Chennai was the strongest centre at roughly 26%.
Other outlets report different numbers. Bollywood Hungama lists ₹0.94 crore, while Koimoi and Pinkvilla put the opening at about ₹1 crore net. Bollywood Bubble reported ₹1.15 crore, a figure it attributed to the film’s PR team. Trackers estimate from show-level data and producers use their own reports, so gaps like this are common on opening day. Until final figures arrive, the sensible reading is a range of about ₹0.90 to ₹1.15 crore.
Is this Kareena Kapoor’s lowest opening?
India.com says so, based on Sacnilk’s estimate. It compares the film with The Buckingham Murders, which took ₹1.15 crore net on its first day in 2024. Sacnilk, Bollywood Hungama and Koimoi all put Daayra below that mark, so the “lowest opening” label holds on most tracker counts. The PR figure alone would leave the two films level. The label rests on estimates that may still be revised.
What Daayra is about, and what reviewers are saying
The story opens with the rape and murder of a young woman. The four accused are then killed in a police encounter carried out by a team led by DCP Raman Kumar (Prithviraj Sukumaran). DCP Ajooni Kohli (Kareena Kapoor Khan) is assigned to investigate that killing. The film is described as inspired by true events. It is written by Meghna Gulzar, Sima Agarwal and Yash Keswani, and produced by Junglee Pictures and Pen Studios. The supporting cast includes Kanwaljit Singh, Anuja Sathe, Seema Azmi, Achint Kaur, Kshitee Jog and Jitendra Joshi.
Critics have been generous. IANS gave the film 4.5 stars and called it a gripping drama that prefers hard questions to easy answers. The Free Press Journal gave it 3.5 stars, and Bollywood Bubble gave it four. Reviewers say the film treats sexual violence through its aftermath, the investigation and the institutional response, not as a shock device.
Ordinary viewers are more divided. Some describe the film as hard-hitting and emotionally gripping, while others say the pacing drags and the narrative is stretched. Reactions from preview screenings in Delhi and Mumbai were strongly positive, though some viewers noted a slow first half.
Vibe and Hanuman Ansh: a crowded Friday
According to Variety India’s day-one comparison, Sacnilk estimates Vibe at ₹1.50 crore net in India, against ₹90 lakh for Daayra. Vibe ran in 3,194 shows at 13.38% occupancy. Reports put its budget at about ₹35 crore, so its own opening is modest too. Kunal Kemmu is Kareena’s brother-in-law, and Outlook reported that she said she would be happy if both films did well.
One box-office roundup found that Hanuman Ansh, a film about 43 days old, still earned more than either new Hindi release on Friday. With screens shared among several films, a slow first day can also mean fewer shows on the following days.
Meghna Gulzar’s record with serious dramas
Gulzar is known for Talvar (2015) and Raazi (2018). Raazi, produced by Junglee Pictures, the same banner behind Daayra, reached ₹102.50 crore after three weeks and kept building on word of mouth. Chhapaak (2020) drew mixed reviews, and Sam Bahadur (2023) earned her a National Film Award in the category for national, social and environmental values. Her serious-subject films have sometimes grown after a quiet start, but that is no guarantee for this one.
What Saturday and Sunday must show
Trade analyst Rathie told Variety India before release that the film could depend more on word of mouth, given its cast and genre. That is now the whole story of the Daayra box office collection. If the 16.31% night-show occupancy carries into daytime shows on Saturday, reviews are reaching audiences. If Saturday stays flat, the weak opening will stand. Final Day 1 figures and the weekend totals should settle both the numbers dispute and the question of whether the film has found its audience.
Also on Human Crisis News: read our entertainment coverage of the 2026 Emmy Awards and host Mariska Hargitay.
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