Varun Dhawan has reason to smile. His latest film, Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania (HSKD) has grossed Rs 34 crore in its opening weekend.
Exhibitor Rajesh Thadani says,`The first weekend collection of this film is higher than that of his other film, Main Tera Hero. The latter had collected around Rs 24 crore in the first three days of its release.`
Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania's decent collection at the box office also bears testimony to young actress Alia Bhatt's rising star power. `This bunch of young stars is successfully drawing audiences into cinema halls now. For instance, Ek Villan, which stars Sidharth Malhotra and Shradha Kapoor, is inching towards the Rs 100 crore mark,` says Thadani.
Ritiesh Deshmukh's film, Lai Bhaari, on the other hand, has also fared very well. In fact, for a Marathi film, it has broken all records with its the first weekend collection of Rs 11 crore - the last Marathi film to do well at the box office was Timepass which collected Rs6 crore in its first weekend.
Vishal Anand of Fun Cinemas says, `Lai Bhaari has seen the best opening collection for a Marathi film and it may soon become the highest Marathi film grosser.`
Thadani concedes that this Marathi film has eaten into HSKD's business in smaller centres of the city. `In these small pockets, Lai Bhaari collected more than HSKD,` he points out.
