Haiwaan isn't finding its feet. The Priyadarshan-directed thriller, released September 11, brought in Rs 1.85 crore net on Day 3 across 4,374 shows in India, according to Sacnilk. That's a 26% fall from Day 2's Rs 2.50 crore, and it means the film has now dropped on consecutive days right out of the gate.

The India total sits at Rs 8.80 crore gross, Rs 7.35 crore net. Overseas added roughly Rs 75 lakh on Day 3, pushing the international gross to Rs 2.75 crore. Put it all together and Haiwaan's worldwide gross stands at Rs 11.55 crore after three days.

That's a rough number against a budget nobody's officially confirmed but which reports peg at Rs 100-115 crore. The makers haven't put out a figure themselves. Still, even at the lower end of those estimates, Haiwaan would need the kind of weekday jump that mixed-to-negative word of mouth rarely delivers.

And the word of mouth has been mixed. Critics and audiences haven't rallied behind the film, which is Priyadarshan's own remake of his 2016 Malayalam hit Oppam. The Free Press Journal's review landed at three stars, calling it watchable but familiar to anyone who's already seen the original. "If you have watched Oppam, then you might feel the film offers nothing new apart from a few new scenes and different actors," the review noted, while adding that newcomers to the story would likely walk away satisfied.

The cast is stacked on paper. Saif Ali Khan carries the lead, with Boman Irani, Shriya Pilgaonkar and Saiyami Kher rounding out the ensemble. Akshay Kumar features too, though the FPJ review flagged his part as a small one, enough to keep his fans happy without making him central to the film.

That star combination hasn't translated into footfalls so far. A two-day slide this early usually spells trouble unless the weekend momentum picks up sharply, and there's no sign of that yet. The real test now is the weekday run, Monday through Thursday, when films either find a second life on word of mouth or quietly fade before the next big Friday arrives. For Haiwaan, that window is closing fast, and the gap between what it's earned and what it reportedly cost is only getting harder to explain away.