Varun Dhawan’s much-anticipated film Baby John had an impressive start at the box office but has faced stiff competition, particularly from the ongoing success of Pushpa 2: The Rule. The film, which hit theaters on December 25, has earned an estimated ₹4.75 crore on its fifth day of release, as per Sacnilk. Despite its strong opening, Baby John’s performance has been less than expected, and it has collected only ₹28.65 crore in total so far in the domestic market.
Directed by Kalees and produced by A for Apple Productions, Cine1 Studios, and Jio Studios, Baby John is a Hindi remake of Atlee’s 2016 Tamil blockbuster Theri. The film stars Varun Dhawan, Keerthy Suresh, Wamiqa Gabbi, and Jackie Shroff. However, the film has been unable to capitalize fully on its Christmas release due to the dominance of other big-ticket films, especially Pushpa 2, which continues to perform well in mass circuits.
Trade analyst Taran Adarsh highlighted the underwhelming opening day of Baby John, which had been anticipated to earn between ₹17 crore to ₹20 crore due to the festive holiday. Adarsh noted that Pushpa 2 and Mufasa created significant competition for Baby John at the box office. While a midweek release typically benefits from a holiday boost, Baby John is still struggling to maintain its momentum against such strong competition.
Atlee, the producer of Baby John, addressed the box-office face-off, emphasizing that there is no rivalry between his film and Pushpa 2. “It’s an ecosystem,” Atlee said, referring to his friendly relationship with Allu Arjun. He clarified that the release dates were planned with full awareness of Pushpa 2‘s December release and that both films were not directly competing with each other.
Despite the competition, Baby John is expected to see if it can gain traction during the weekend. However, sustaining its box-office performance and reaching a respectable extended weekend total remains a challenge with Pushpa 2 still holding a firm grip on audiences. Fans are awaiting whether Varun Dhawan’s star power will help Baby John recover and perform well in the coming days.
Sources By Agencies
