Akshay Kumar and Saif Ali Khan’s much-awaited reunion film, "Haiwaan", has opened to an incredibly modest response at the Indian box office. The action-crime thriller, directed by Priyadarshan, earned around ₹3 crore net and ₹3.60 crore gross on its opening day, Friday, September 11, 2026.
As per Sacnilk’s reported figures, the film recorded an overall Hindi occupancy of just 11% to 12.42% across 7,224 shows. Its slow start is also attributed to strong competition from "Mirzapur: The Movie" and "Hanuman Ansh", which have taken a significant share of screens and audience attention.
The opening is strange because "Haiwaan" marks the return of Akshay Kumar and Saif Ali Khan on screen together after 17 years. However, the film has started among Akshay Kumar’s lowest post-COVID openers, staying only slightly ahead of "Sarfira" (₹2.50 crore) and "Selfiee" (₹2.55 crore).
The contrast with Akshay’s recent successes is also striking. "Bhooth Bangla", his earlier 2026 collaboration with Priyadarshan, opened with ₹18.31 crore net, while "Welcome To The Jungle" collected ₹15.25 crore net on its first day. In comparison, "Haiwaan" managed only ₹3 crore.
One major difference is the film’s darker action-thriller genre, which has less immediate family appeal than "Bhooth Bangla". The intense competition has also limited its screen presence. Moreover, the word-of-mouth has predominantly been mixed-to-negative. A strong Saturday and Sunday could help the film recover, but the opening momentum remains a concern.
"Haiwaan" also marks one of the lowest career openings for Saif Ali Khan in terms of solo or multi-starrer lead roles. Compared to his biggest pan-India releases like "Adipurush" and "Tanhaji", or two-hero action thrillers like "Vikram Vedha", and franchise releases like "Race 2", the day 1 gross is incredibly low.
