Ayushmann Khurrana has done it again. And this time, he has done it with style.
His films have been doing well consistently. Each of his last five releases (Bareilly Ki Barfi, Shubh Mangal Savdhaan, Andhadhun, Badhaai Ho and Article 15) turned out to be successful at the box office. All of these had grown based on word of mouth.
The only film that had some sort of a good opening per se was Badhaai Ho which started at Rs 7.3 crore. However, Dream Girl has opened bigger with Rs 10.05 crore.
What has caught everyone by surprise though is the kind of momentum that the film has enjoyed over the weekend. It has accumulated a massive number of Rs 44.5 crore. Now, this could well have been a good number for most other stars in the industry.
However, for Khurrana, this is a beginning of a new phase in his career as Dream Girl has left behind his biggest weekend opener till date, Badhaai Ho (Rs 32 crore) by a margin of over Rs 10 crore. This is superb as from here, Khurrana will further rise.
In fact, if we look at the kind of journey that Khurrana and his films have enjoyed in this double hat-trick innings, there is a lot that one gets to see. Bareilly Ki Barfi was the starting point of it all and that film had the weekend collections of Rs 11.5 crore, which resulted in a lifetime of Rs 34.5 crore.
Now, Dream Girl has left even this number far behind in less than three days. Ditto for Shubh Mangal Savdhan which had a lifetime number of Rs 43.1 crore, which has again been surpassed in quick time by the Ekta Kapoor production.
Rest assured, the manner in which Dream Girl is currently going, it is pretty much a given that the lifetime number of Khurrana’s last release Article 15 (Rs 65.4 crore) would be surpassed within one week itself.
After that it would be about challenging Andhadhun lifetime of Rs 75.6 crore and that number would be history within the second weekend itself.
While it is now a given that Dream Girl would be at least the second highest grosser ever of Khurranna's eventful career, all eyes are on whether it manages to challenge the lifetime number of his biggest till date, Badhaai Ho (Rs 138 crore). The picture would be much clearer when the film enters its second week. That would be the deciding factor for how further does it go in days and weeks to come till War releases on October 2.
Weekend collections of Ayushmann Khurrana's double hat-trick successes: Dream Girl: Rs 44.5 crore Badhaai Ho: Rs 32 crore Article 15: Rs 20 crore Shubh Mangal Savdhan: Rs 14.4 crore Andhadhun: Rs 15 crore Bareilly Ki Barfi: Rs 11.5 crore
Note: All collections as per production and distribution sources
(Joginder Tuteja is a trade expert and film critic. Views are personal)
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