Hindi
Akshay Kumar’s Rustom manages to hold attention while Mohenjo Daro trails way behind
MUMBAI: With two major releases wanting to make the most of the long Independence Day weekend extending toMonday, the media had a field day. However, this was not the case with the two releases. While one raked in the mulla and the audience admiration, the other hit the bottom even before it could take off.
Rustom, with Akshay Kumar playing a naval officer and a murder accused, won half the hearts just by donning his navy uniform; the gaps in the story and the convenient play with the screenplay notwithstanding. With a limited screen engagement compared to big bill movies, the film managed to cross an impressive Rs 14 crore mark. The film held on well and consolidated on day two, Saturday, by over 10% peaking on Sunday by bettering its opening day collections by almost 40% its opening weekend just falling short of the Rs 50 crore mark at Rs 49.85 crore.
The film held on strongly on Monday thanks to the Independence Day national holiday to match itsSunday figures with about Rs 17.8 crore to take its four-day total to Rs 67,65 crore.
Mohenjo Daro, a routine script couched as a pre-historic saga from Mohenjo Daro civilization, pays heavily for total lack of creativity, be it story, script or narration. A routine B grade bahubali story takes the audience for granted who failed to turn up in required number resulting in poor opening day figures.
The film even fell way short of the Rs 10 crore mark on its opening day to collect Rs 8.8 crore, gaining only little on Saturday with the Sunday growth also being insignificant as it struggled to put together Rs 29.8 crore. The film managed to add another Rs 9.25 crore for the Independence Day holiday on Mondayas the poor word of mouth spread. The fact that the film would be carrying an exorbitant price tag would qualify it as a huge disaster.
Budhia Singh- Born To Run, despite much appreciation, does not manage to add much to its opening weekend, collecting Rs 1.9 crore for its first week.
The Legend of Michael Mishra could not add much to its first weekend collections. The film closes its first week with a poor Rs 75 lakh in its first week.
Fever fails to create thrill with its poor suspense drama as it collected a meagre Rs 80 lakh for its first week.
Dishoom did well in its second week though falling short of the promise it showed during the second weekend as it ended its second week with Rs 12.8 crore to take its two-week tally to Rs 64.6 crore.
Madaari braves all oppositions in its third week by collecting Rs 1.25 crore to take its three- week tally to Rs 16.7 crore.
Kabali (Hindi dubbed from Tamil) collected Rs 1.1 crore for its third week to take its three week total to
In a music industry that often rewards speed, spectacle, and instant recall, Navjot Ahuja’s journey feels refreshingly different. His story is not built on noise. It is built on patience, discipline, emotional honesty, and a quiet commitment to becoming better with every passing year. After 14 years of struggle, learning, performing, and writing, Navjot stands today as an artist whose success has not changed his centre. If anything, it has only made his purpose clearer.
For Navjot, music has never been about chasing fame alone. It has always been about expression. It is about writing more truthfully, singing more skillfully, understanding himself more deeply, and becoming a kinder human being in the process. That rare clarity is what gives his journey its beauty.
Where It All Began: A Writer Before a Singer
Indian singer and songwriter Navjot Ahuja’s musical journey began in the most familiar of places: school assemblies. But even then, what was growing inside him was not only the desire to sing. It was the need to write.
Long before he saw himself as a performer, he had already discovered the emotional release that writing offered him. For Navjot, words became the first true channel for feeling. Songwriting came before singing because writing was the only way he could let emotions flow through him fully. That inner pull shaped his artistic identity early on.
Like many young musicians, he sharpened his craft by creating renditions of popular songs.
Those experiments became his training ground. But the turning point came in 2012, when he wrote his first original song. That moment did not just mark the beginning of songwriting. It marked the beginning of self-definition.
A Calling He Did Not Chase, But Accepted
What makes the latest Indian singer-songwriter Navjot’s story especially compelling is the way he describes his relationship with music. He does not frame it as a career he aggressively pursued. In his own understanding, music was not something he chose. It was something that chose him.
There was a time when he imagined a very different future for himself. He wanted to become a successful engineer, like many young people shaped by ambition and conventional expectations. But life had a different script waiting for him. During his college years, around 2021, music entered his life professionally and began taking a firmer shape.
That shift was not driven by image-building or industry ambition. It came from acceptance. Navjot embraced the fact that music had claimed him in a way no other path could. That sense of surrender continues to define the artist he is today.
An Artist Guided by Instinct, Not Influence
Unlike many singers who speak openly about idols, icons, and musical role models, Navjot’s creative world is built differently. He does not believe his music comes from imitation or inherited influence. He listens inward.
He has never considered himself shaped by ideals in the traditional sense. In fact, he admits that he does not particularly enjoy listening to songs, especially his own. His decisions as a songwriter and singer come from instinct. He writes what feels right. He trusts what his inner voice tells him. He positions his music according to what he honestly believes in, not what trends demand.
That creative independence gives his work a distinct emotional sincerity. His songs do not feel calculated. They feel alive.
The Long Years of Invisible Struggle
Every artist carries a chapter of struggle, and Navjot’s was long, demanding, and deeply formative. One of the biggest challenges he faced was building continuity as the best new indian singer songwriter in an era where musical collaboration is increasingly fluid.
For emerging singers, especially those trying to build with a band, consistency can be difficult. Instrumentalists today have more opportunities than ever to freelance and perform with multiple artists. While that growth is positive and well deserved, it can make things harder for singers who are still trying to establish a steady team and sound around their work.
For Navjot, one of the most difficult phases came during 2021 and 2022, when he was doing club shows almost every day. It was a period of relentless performance, but not always personal fulfillment. He was largely singing covers because clubs were not open to original songs that audiences did not yet know.
For a new Indian singer and songwriter, that can be a painful compromise. To perform constantly and still not have the freedom to share your own voice requires not just resilience, but restraint.
“Khat” and the Grace of Staying Unchanged
After 14 years of effort, Navjot’s new love song Khat became a defining milestone. Professionally, he acknowledges that the song changed how society viewed him as a musician. It strengthened his place in the public eye and altered his standing in meaningful ways.
Yet personally, he remains unchanged.
That is perhaps the most striking part of his story. Navjot says his routine is still the same. His calm is still the same. His writing process is still the same. He does not want success or failure to interfere with the purity of his art. For him, emotional detachment from public outcomes is essential because the moment an artist becomes too attached to validation, the writing begins to shift.
His joy comes not from numbers, but from the attempt. If he has tried to improve his skill today, if he has written his heart out more honestly than before, then he is at peace.
Growth, Not Glory, Remains the Real Goal
Even now, Navjot is not consumed by labels such as singles artist, performer, or digital success story. His focus remains deeply personal. He wants to sing better. He wants to play instruments better. He wants to understand himself more. And he wants to become a kinder person.
That is what makes Navjot Ahuja’s journey so moving. It is not simply the story of a musician finding recognition. It is the story of an artist who continues to grow inward, even as the world begins to look outward at him. In an age obsessed with applause, Navjot reminds us that the most meaningful success often begins in silence, honesty, and the courage to remain true to oneself.
