Baby John early box office collection day 1: Varun Dhawan’s masala film delivers poor opening after earning even poorer reviews

Actor Varun Dhawan‘s big bid for action hero superstardom, Baby John, is having a difficult time at the box office. The movie opened to average reviews on Christmas Day, and is only generating mediocre commercial interest among audiences fresh off a similar experience with Pushpa 2: The Rule. Starring Allu Arjun, Pushpa 2 is still in contention at the box office, having already made more than Rs 1000 crore in India. It was thought that Baby John could pick up from where Pushpa 2 left off, but there’s a good chance that Allu Arjun’s film ends up making more on its 21st day of release than Baby John does on its first.

According to industry tracker Sacnilk, Baby John has collected only Rs 2 crore across the country from morning shows, with an occupancy of just under 14%. Even with more crowds turning up for the afternoon and night shows, the film is looking at an opening of around Rs 15 crore. Pushpa 2 made Rs 14 crore on day 20 of release, and considering the fact that Wednesday is a holiday on account of Christmas, it could make slightly more. Sacnilk also reports that Baby John sold only around Rs 5 crore worth of tickets in advance for day one, which isn’t a very impressive number.

Also read – Baby John movie review: Bloated and incoherent, Varun Dhawan film among the worst of 2024

The movie has been marketed as a pan-India entertainer, with producer Atlee personally helping promote it. Atlee’s brand has increased incredibly following the success of last year’s Jawan, starring Shah Rukh Khan. Baby John is a remake of his film Theri, which starred Vijay. The movie is directed by his former associate Kalees, and features Keerthy Suresh and Wamiqa Gabbi in supporting roles.

Varun’s last release was the horror comedy Bhediya, which under-performed at the box office. The movie made Rs 7 crore on opening day. Before that, he starred in the romantic drama JugJugg Jeeyo, which made Rs 9 crore on opening day. His biggest opener, ironically, is also among his biggest flops: Kalank, which made Rs 21 crore on day one, but tanked subsequently. His last film in the action genre was Dishoom, which made Rs 11 crore on day one in 2016.