
Daayra Opens To Cold Box Office Despite Talvar Comparisons
Meghna Gulzar's Kareena Kapoor and Prithviraj-led investigation drama drew mixed reviews and thin ticket sales, reviving questions about her post-Raazi run.

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Meghna Gulzar is an Indian writer, director and producer. The daughter of lyricist & poet Gulzar and former actress Raakhee, she was born on 13 December 1973 in Maharashtra, Mumbai. She is best known for directing of Bollywood film Raazi in 2018.
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Meghna Gulzar's Kareena Kapoor and Prithviraj-led investigation drama drew mixed reviews and thin ticket sales, reviving questions about her post-Raazi run.

Daayra's Tuesday collection matched Monday's Rs 50 lakh instead of climbing, leaving the Meghna Gulzar film's five-day domestic net at Rs 5.50 crore against a reported Rs 50-60 crore budget.

Kareena Kapoor Khan and Prithviraj Sukumaran's Daayra collapsed on its first Monday, dropping 74.3 percent to Rs 45 lakh net, leaving its reported Rs 55 crore budget far out of reach so far.

Meghna Gulzar has responded to comparisons between her 2018 film Raazi and Dhurandhar, saying both are equally patriotic even though their storytelling styles are worlds apart.

Daayra collected roughly 5.6 crore net in its opening weekend, the lowest start for a Kareena‑led film in the past 15 years, trailing even the modest ‘The Buckingham Murders’.

Meghna Gulzar's Daayra collected Rs 3.77 crore in its opening weekend, rising from a soft Friday before nearly flatlining on Sunday. The film's weekday run now decides how far it travels.

Daayra's first Sunday brought no relief, with the Kareena Kapoor Khan and Prithviraj Sukumaran crime thriller collecting the same ₹1.75 crore it made on Day 2, taking its three-day total to roughly ₹4.50 crore net.

Meghna Gulzar's Daayra grew 60% on its second day after a muted Friday opening, with trade estimates for the two-day total ranging between Rs 2.6 and 3.1 crore against a reported Rs 55 crore budget.

Daayra opened on September 18 with a modest ₹1.15 crore, but a BOGO ticket deal helped it pull in ₹2.18 crore on day two, pushing the two‑day total to ₹3.33 crore amid mixed critical feedback.

Daayra, starring Kareena Kapoor and Prithviraj Sukumaran, saw its Saturday collections nearly double after a slow Friday. The Meghna Gulzar-directed thriller now eyes a ₹6-crore-plus opening weekend, with Drishyam 3 looming on October 2.

Daayra, starring Kareena Kapoor Khan and Prithviraj Sukumaran as officers on opposite sides of a police encounter case, opened soft despite glowing reviews, with trade trackers giving conflicting day one numbers against a reported Rs 50-60 crore budget.

Daayra, Meghna Gulzar's new crime thriller starring Prithviraj Sukumaran and Kareena Kapoor Khan, releases September 18 with a gripping first half that gives way to a second half critics call directionless and underpowered.

Daayra held its premiere screening on September 17, a day ahead of release, with Kareena Kapoor Khan, Prithviraj Sukumaran and director Meghna Gulzar among those who turned up for the red carpet.

Ahead of Daayra's release, Meghna Gulzar spoke about directing Irrfan Khan, Vicky Kaushal, Deepika Padukone, Alia Bhatt, Tabu and Sushmita Sen, revealing which actors needed no instruction at all.

Filmfare's review of Meghna Gulzar's Daayra calls it gritty and compelling, with Prithviraj Sukumaran's vigilante cop overshadowing Kareena Kapoor Khan's by-the-book DCP in a drama that echoes the 2019 Telangana encounter case without directly adapting it.

Kareena Kapoor Khan and Prithviraj Sukumaran met the press and students in Delhi ahead of Daayra's September 18 release, with Kareena posting photos from the event in a pink floral saree.

Prithviraj Sukumaran, who stars in Meghna Gulzar's Daayra, opened up about the gap between Malayalam cinema's informal set culture and Bollywood's layered, agency-driven process ahead of the film's September 18 release.

Daayra, starring Kareena Kapoor Khan and Prithviraj Sukumaran as opposing cops, has been passed by the censor board with almost no cuts. The crime thriller releases in theatres on September 18.

Prithviraj Sukumaran says Meghna Gulzar never lets her filmmaking tilt the scales in Daayra, the cop drama pitting his character against Kareena Kapoor Khan's, out in theatres September 18.

Daayra has received an A certificate from the CBFC with no visual cuts at all. The only change ordered was a single word in a Kareena Kapoor Khan dialogue, replaced with 'Minister.'

Daayra's music launch in Mumbai brought out Kareena Kapoor Khan, Prithviraj Sukumaran, director Meghna Gulzar and lyricist Gulzar to unveil the title track Sach Ka Daayra ahead of the film's September 18 release.

Kareena Kapoor Khan used the Daayra song launch to talk about playing a restrained character, working with Meghna Gulzar for 26 years' worth of firsts, and wanting a big opening before her September 21 birthday.

Kareena Kapoor, promoting Daayra, told a Yuvaa town hall that not every film needs to gross ₹200 or ₹500 crore, arguing audiences now demand substance over formula.

Kareena Kapoor has criticised Bollywood's tendency to copy successful formulas, pointing to the wave of violent films that followed Animal's massive box-office run, in a new interview with Yuvaa.

Parvathy Thiruvothu opens up about voicing Kareena Kapoor Khan's character in the Malayalam dub of Daayra, revealing the technical grind behind lip-sync and one especially tricky emotional scene.

Prithviraj Sukumaran tells Filmfare that he sees himself as a tool for Meghna Gulzar's vision, not an actor chasing a distinct performance, crediting directors and writers for any perceived reinvention on screen.

B Praak has recorded the sole song in Meghna Gulzar's Daayra, penned by Gulzar and composed by Amit Trivedi, according to Pinkvilla, ahead of the film's September 18 release starring Kareena Kapoor Khan and Prithviraj Sukumaran.