Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai box office: Varun’s Baby John earned more than this comedy

Compared to Varun Dhawan’s recent releases, the opening is underwhelming. His war drama Border 2 opened to Rs 30 crore net earlier this year, while Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari collected Rs 9.25 crore net on its first day last year. Even Baby John had a stronger opening with Rs 11.25 crore net. The only post-pandemic Varun Dhawan release that Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai has managed to surpass is Bhediya, which opened at Rs 7.48 crore net. The film has also fallen well short of Judwaa 2, the last theatrical collaboration between Varun and David Dhawan, which had opened to an impressive Rs 16.1 crore.

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For Mrunal Thakur, however, the film marks a comparatively better opening than some of her recent releases, including Dacoit: A Love Story (Rs 6.55 crore), Do Deewane Sheher Mein (Rs 1.25 crore), and Son of Sardaar 2 (Rs 7.25 crore). For Pooja Hegde, the film has performed better than Deva, which opened at Rs 5.5 crore, but trails behind films such as Retro (Rs 19.25 crore) and Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan (Rs 13.5 crore).

The film is also facing competition from other releases, including Bobby Deol’s Bandar and Ram Charan’s sports drama Peddi. It now remains to be seen whether the film can witness growth over the weekend and generate stronger momentum at the box office.