Hyderabad: From Day 1, Saiyaara made headlines. Opening with a stunning Rs. 25 crore collection, the highest ever for a debutant-led Bollywood film, it crushed all expectations. Within its first weekend, it stormed past Rs. 83 crore in India and Rs. 119 crore globally.
By Day 9, the film had already crossed the Rs. 200 crore mark domestically, a feat usually reserved for franchise giants or superstar vehicles. It eventually clocked a worldwide gross of Rs. 278 crore, making it the second highest-grossing Hindi film of 2025 and third overall in Indian cinema that year.
Even more impressive? It sold over 3.8 lakh tickets in advance, with several cities reporting sold-out shows for days. For a film with no big-name stars, that’s a miracle and a message that pure emotion still sells.
Following Saiyaara’s box office triumph came a wave of social media chatter not all of it celebratory. Viewers quickly spotted striking similarities between Saiyaara and the Korean classic A Moment to Remember, sparking criticism that the film was a “scene-by-scene copy.”
If you’re surprised that Saiyaara drew from Korean cinema, don’t be. Mohit Suri has a history of adapting Korean films for Indian audiences:
• Murder 2 (2011) drew inspiration from The Chaser.
• Ek Villain (2014) was reminiscent of I Saw the Devil.
• Awarapan (2007) was based on A Bittersweet Life.
The debate spread like wildfire, with netizens sharing comparison clips, calling out Bollywood’s lack of originality, and questioning why the film was marketed as an “original love story.”
