Neeraj Pandey's films have a lot of expectations from the audiences but Aiyaary seems to be not standing up to it. The film which was supposed to release around the patriotic fever of the Republic Day was postponed and finally released on 16th February. The film has managed to mint just Rs. 3.36 crores on its first day. The film which stars Manoj Bajpayee, Sidharth Malhotra and Rahul Preet Singh is based on Indian armed forces.

The film was expected to be a tough competition to Akshay Kumar's film PadMan which tackles another social issue of menstruation. But looks like Aiyaary hasn't affected PadMan but its vice-versa instead. These movies also have Marvel film Black Panther in the competition to them. Interestingly, Aiyaary was postponed to avoid competition with the biggies. First with Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Padmaavat and then R. Balki's PadMan. The film tells a story of crime with the army itself. But looks like this subject has not appealed enough to the mass audiences. Trade analyst Taran Adarsh gave the first day's report of the film.

With such low collections, it becomes Sidharth Malhotra's lowest opener at the box-office. His last films Ittefaq and A Gentleman had more openings as compared to Aiyaary. The critics were also not too positive about the film, given the expectations it had. Aiyaary Review Roundup: Sidharth Malhotra's Spy Thriller is Neeraj Pandey's Weakest Film, Claim Critics The film also has Pooja Chopra, Vikram Gokhale, Naseeruddin Shah, Adil Hussain, Kumud Mishra, Rajesh Tailang and Anupam Kher as the supporting cast. Despite having some strong faces, the film is not managing to pull crowds. Looks like the audiences prefers Sidharth as the chocolate boy romancing ladies than going for a serious uniform character. With such a disappointing start on Day 1, let us see if the film does pick up pace eventually.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 17, 2018 06:32 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).