It’s Sunday morning in Assam and the lines outside movie theaters are longer than ever. Three days after Roi Roi Binale hit the screens, fans are still showing up at dawn, some with flowers in hand, others wiping away tears before the credits even roll. This isn’t just a film release – it’s a goodbye party for Zubeen Garg, the man who sang Assam’s heart out for decades. And from the looks of it, nobody’s ready to say farewell just yet.The buzz started last Friday, October 31 – a date Zubeen picked himself, back when he was dreaming this up over 20 years ago. Roi Roi Binale, which roughly means “tears will flow,” tells the story of a blind musician pulled toward the sea, chasing dreams he can’t quite see. Zubeen stars as that musician, his voice filling every frame with those original songs he poured his soul into. Directed by Rajesh Bhuyan and co-produced by Zubeen’s wife, Garima Saikia Garg, it’s his passion project, the one he always said would put Assamese cinema on the map.And boy, has it ever. On opening day, the film pulled in a whopping Rs2.52 crore gross across India – the biggest debut for any Assamese movie, smashing past records like they were made of paper.
By Day 2, it added another Rs2 crore net, pushing the two-day total to around Rs4 crore.
Theaters are running shows back-to-back, some kicking off as early as 4:25 a.m., and they’re packed – 95-100% full in most spots, with fans from Guwahati to Dibrugarh cheering, clapping, and yeah, crying through the whole thing. 
We’re talking screens in places like Bengaluru, Jaipur, Dehradun, even Aizawl in Mizoram, where it became the first Assamese flick to play and sold out on the spot.
In Lucknow and Pune, folks who’d never heard much Assamese music before are lining up, drawn by Zubeen’s story and the word-of-mouth wave crashing across social media. Posts on X are flooded with clips of fans pouring milk on posters outside theaters, a quiet nod to the love they feel.
“Not just a movie, it’s an emotional outburst,” said one theater manager in Guwahati, who’s been in the biz for 17 years and swears he’s never seen anything like it – not for Hindi blockbusters, not for anything.
But it’s not all smooth sailing. In Bongaigaon, the first show got scrapped over a technical glitch, and fans lost it – refunds took forever, tensions boiled over, and some even clashed with staff.
Then there’s the ticket price spike in a few spots outside Assam, like Delhi and Mumbai, where some theaters jacked up rates without warning. The Roi Roi Binale team stepped in quick, pleading with fans to hold off on sharing clips online to fight piracy and urging theaters to keep things fair. “This was Zubeen’s dream – let’s honor it right,” they posted on social media.
The Assam government stepped up too, promising to hand over all GST from the film to the Kalaguru Artist Foundation, the group Zubeen started to nurture young talent.
Opposition leaders are pushing to make it tax-free statewide, calling it a tribute to the icon who defined a generation.As Day 3 winds down, theaters are still buzzing. In Silchar, folks stumbled out hugging strangers, eyes red but smiles wide. One young woman from Jorhat, who drove hours to catch a midnight show, put it best: “We laughed, we cried, but mostly, we felt him. Zubeen da didn’t leave us – he’s right here, in every note.” Trade folks are buzzing about Rs30-50 crore lifetime hauls, maybe even toppling the all-time Assamese chart-toppers.
But numbers aside, this frenzy feels bigger. It’s Assam reminding the world: our stories, our stars, they matter. And Zubeen’s? They’re timeless.If you’re in line today, grab some tissues. And maybe a gamosa – because yeah, the tears are real.
