'Baby John' box office: Varun Dhawan film reportedly earns ₹ 11.25 ...

Varun Dhawan’s Baby John, released in theatres on Christmas, has earned ₹ 11.25 crore (India net) on its opening day, a rather average collection for a holiday release.

The official numbers were shared by the makers on Thursday afternoon.

Directed by Kalees and produced by Atlee, Baby John is the official Hindi remake of the Tamil action film Theri, starring Vijay. The film centres on a cop who goes into hiding and assumes a new identity. Dhawan is joined in the cast by Keerthy Suresh, Wamiqa Gabbi, Jackie Shroff, Rajpal Yadav, Sheeba Chaddha and others. 

According to tracking website Sacnilk, Baby John witnessed an overall 24.97% Hindi occupancy on December 25, with cities like Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Lucknow recording higher occupancy rates. Its first-day numbers fell behind Mufasa: The Lion King and Pushpa 2: The Rule’s earnings, which have been in theatres for some time and drawing audiences.

While not an astronomical figure, the makers in a press note highlighted two records set by Baby John: ‘biggest opener for a non-franchise’ film post the pandemic, and ‘the highest opening day among remakes’ post the pandemic.

Last month, Dhawan appeared in the web show Citadel: Honey Bunny, directed by Raj & DK. The actor’s upcoming slate includes Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari, Border 2 and a film with his legendary father,David Dhawan.