New Delhi: Continuing its golden run at the box office, Ayushmann Khurrana’s comedy drama Dream Girl is looking at a big opening weekend of around ₹43 crore. The Raaj Shaandilyaa directed film started with around ₹9.5 crore on Friday and went up to ₹16 crore and ₹18 crore on Saturday and Sunday respectively.
“Dream Girl runs riot at the box office. Packs a fantastic total, setting the box office on fire on day two and three. Trends better than Raazi ( ₹32.94 crore) Stree ( ₹32.27 crore) and Uri: The Surgical Strike (Rs. 35.73 crore)," trade analyst Taran Adarsh tweeted.
This is Khurrana’s highest opening weekend ever, beating Badhaai Ho ( ₹32 crore), Article 15 ( ₹19.84 crore) and Andhadhun ( ₹14.64 crore).
Trade website Box Office India pointed out that this is the first time an Ayushmann Khurana film has seen respectable collections in smaller areas of Central India and Bihar, for which the film co-starring Nushrat Bharucha and Annu Kapoor doesn’t really offer massive face value. The Friday to Saturday growth of 70% is best for the year, beating hits like Chhichhore (68%) and Super 30 (53%).
Territories like Mumbai and Mysore saw extraordinary growth in collections for the film over the weekend, especially Mysore which looked to more than double from the first day. The film is also fantastic in the north as Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and east Punjab all locked in higher numbers post the first day.
The real big hit of the month, however, is turning out to be director Nitesh Tiwari’s campus comedy Chhichhore that has collected around ₹90 crore in 10 days and is cruising towards the ₹100 crore mark. Box Office India said the film showed only a 30% drop in its second weekend compared to the first and is recording higher numbers than even new release Dream Girl in some places like Gujarat and Saurashtra. The race between the two films will be interesting to see especially till the big release of Yash Raj Films’ action thriller War starring Hrithik Roshan and Tiger Shroff on 2 October.
“Chhichhore refuses to slow down. Weekend two was extremely crucial since it faced a new, tough opponent (Dream Girl), but the incredible business clearly indicates it has cast a spell at the box office," Adarsh tweeted.
