Badla opens well, Luka Chuppi a Superhit, Total Dhamaal set to be Ajay Devgn's second biggest grosser

Badla has opened quite well at the Box Office. The suspense thriller boasted of a good promo, and the original Spanish film The Invisible Guest was good material that filmmaker Sujoy Ghosh had in hand. With Amitabh Bachchan and Taapsee Pannu as the lead actors and Amrita Singh proving superb support, the Shah Rukh Khan production has embarked on a winning start, what with 5.04 crore coming on the first day.

The suspense thriller has been liked by the audience and has taken one of the better opening numbers for this genre. Usually, suspense thrillers start slow, as has been evidenced with Sujoy Ghosh's own Kahaani earning Rs 3 crore or Kahaani 2 earning Rs 4.25 crore. Ittefaq, which was a Shah Rukh Khan production, also had a subdued opening at Rs 4.05 crore.

Jazbaa, another suspense thriller that featured Amitabh Bachchan's daughter-in-law Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, also figured in at Rs 4.23 crore and so was the case with Sushant Singh Rajput’s Detective Byomkesh Bakshy , which earned Rs 4.20 crore. Only Ajay Devgn's Drishyam was better at Rs 5.80 crore. It also boasts of the highest lifetime score of Rs 77 crore, and one has to see where does Badla eventually end up.

As for the Kartik Aryan and Kriti Sanon starrrer Luka Chuppi, it has emerged as a superhit at the Box Office. The film has done better than expected on every day since its release by exceeding expectations on its opening day by earning Rs 8.01 crore. It grew quite well over the weekend earning Rs 32.13 crore and post that the weekdays held up quite well that resulted in first week numbers of Rs 53.70 crore.

The real deal though was to see if it sustains well in the second week also, and that has already happened with the second Friday bringing on Rs 3.04 crore. This pretty much is a testimony to the fact that the film has been accepted well by the audiences and now would stay on in theaters for at least two-three more weeks.

This Laxman Utekar directed film has gathered Rs 56.74 crore already and by the time the second weekend is through, a score in excess of Rs 65 crore is a given. From there it would be all about where does the film eventually land up though rest assured, a lifetime of Rs 80 crore is there for the taking.

For producer Dinesh Vijan, this film has proven to be a goldmine once again after Stree became a Blockbuster. Even Luka Chuppi has been made with a very moderate budget of Rs 25 crore, including P&A and marketing, with Rs 30 crore having already been recovered via sales of satellite, digital and music rights. This means all numbers that are coming from theatrical business, be it domestic or overseas, are only adding on to the Rs 5 crore profits that Luka Chuppi has already made.

Kartik Aryan can now indeed rejoice as after a hat-trick of successes in the form of Pyaar Ka Punchnama 2, Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety and now Luka Chuppi, he is now gearing up for Pati, Patni aur Woh and Love Aaj Kal 2, which are his next two releases. On the other hand Kriti Sanon has the twin successes of Bareilly Ki Barfi and Luka Chuppi set to be backed up by three more releases this year - Arjun Patiala, Housefull 4 and Panipat.

Meanwhile, Ajay Devgn stays on to be reliable as ever and is now set to have Total Dhamaal emerge as his second highest grosser ever. His biggest so far is Golmaal Again  which earned Rs 205.70 crore, followed by Singham Returns earning Rs 140 crore. The latter should be surpassed by the Indra Kumar directed film on Monday, if not Sunday itself, since it has already accumulated Rs 134.30 crore.

The film brought in Rs 1.70 crore on its third Friday and going by the trends so far, a big jump can well be expected between Saturday and Sunday. Aiming for a lifetime number of 150 crore, this biggie with Riteish Deshmukh, Arshad Warsi and Jaaved Jaffrey as the usual suspects and Anil Kapoor and Madhuri Dixit as the new entrants, is yet another major hit this winning season.

The only aberration though has been Sushant Singh Rajput’s Sonchiriya which has failed miserably at the Box Office. The Abhishek Chaubey directed film was always meant to be a niche affair but even then one wouldn’t have bargained for a first week number of Rs 6.50 crore which it has gathered. With hardly any shows in the running in the second week, this Chambal tale will fold up around the Rs 7 crore mark. Disaster.