James Cameron’s ‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’beats Aamir Khan’s ‘Sitaare Zameen Par’to become 12th biggest hit of 2025 | Hindi Movie News
James Cameron has done it again. Against expectations, release fatigue, and stiff competition from a major Hindi tentpole Dhurandhar led by Ranveer Singh and Aditya Dhar, Avatar: Fire and Ash has quietly scripted one of the most fascinating box office stories of 2025. With a 16-day India net total of Rs 168.10 crore, the sci-fi epic has officially overtaken Aamir Khan’s Sitaare Zameen Par (Rs 167.46 crore lifetime) to become the 12th biggest hit of the 2025, a narrow but symbolic victory that underlines Cameron’s enduring pull with Indian audiences.The journey wasn’t smooth as it collected Rs 19 crore on Day 1, Fire and Ash showed respectable numbers across languages, led by English but strongly supported by Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu versions. The real strength, however, emerged over its first weekend, with collections climbing steadily to Rs 25.75 crore on Sunday, taking its opening weekend well past the Rs 65 crore mark. By the end of Week 1, the film had amassed a solid Rs 109.5 crore, driven by premium formats, IMAX demand, and family audiences drawn to Cameron’s trademark visual spectacle.
Predictably, weekdays brought sharp drops a familiar pattern for Hollywood in India. Day 4 crashed to single digits, and the second week opened at a reduced pace. Yet what separated Fire and Ash from many of its peers was its remarkable stability. Instead of collapsing, the film held its ground, showing mid-week bumps and a healthy second weekend resurgence. Week 2 added Rs 50.7 crore, pushing the total close to the crucial Rs 160 crore mark.This is where the race with Sitaare Zameen Par became razor-thin. Aamir Khan’s emotional drama had enjoyed strong word-of-mouth and a longer theatrical run, eventually closing at Rs 167.46 crore. For days, it seemed that with newer releases like Tu Meri Main Tera Main Tera Tu Meri and Ikkis, Avatar: Fire and Ash wouldn’t have a longer run at the box office. But Cameron’s film found a late second wind and this was not true just in India but across the globe, the film which got mixed reponse from the critics and many thought would struggle at global box office just crossed USD 1 billion mark globally. In India, Day 16 proved decisive, with early estimates of Rs 4.50 crore, the film nudged its total to Rs 168.10 crore, officially surpassing Sitaare Zameen Par by a slim margin, a difference of less than Rs 1 crore, but enough to reshuffle the 2025 box office rankings.
