Shanaya Kapoor’s debut film, Aankhon Ki Gustaakhiyan, has faced challenges at the box office during its opening weekend. Despite featuring Vikrant Massey as the male lead, the romantic drama has struggled to attract viewers, accumulating ₹1.2 crore in earnings over its first three days.
The film’s box office report indicates modest collections, with ₹0.30 crore on Friday and a slight increase to ₹0.49 crore on Saturday. The third day saw a further rise, adding about ₹0.41 crore, but overall attendance remained low. The film’s occupancy rates reflected this trend, achieving only 17.11% on Sunday, which was a marginal improvement from Saturday’s 15.25% for Hindi screenings.
Breaking down the occupancy figures, morning shows recorded a rate of 7.40%, improving to 20.09% during the afternoon. Evening screenings showed a better reception at 23.14%, but night shows experienced a complete decline, likely due to cancelled screenings.
Critical reviews have also highlighted the film’s shortcomings. HT described Aankhon Ki Gustaakhiyan as a love story that falls short, stating that its inspiration from Ruskin Bond’s short story, The Eyes Have It, is poorly executed in longer form. The review noted several implausible elements, particularly questioning the character dynamics and narrative logic.
Directed by Santosh Singh and produced by Mansi and Varun Bagla, Aankhon Ki Gustaakhiyan released on Friday. It tells the story of a romance between a visually impaired musician and a theatre artist, drawing on the themes of connection and perception from Bond’s work. Despite its artistic aspirations, viewer engagement has proven challenging.