I am running short of adjectives to start the box office reporting of Dhurandhar because every day it is pulling off some insane numbers, which doesn’t feel real. No, that’s not because they aren’t “not real” but because they are. Times we are in, that needed to be clarified. 

On its Third Friday, Dhurandhar is looking to collect Rs. 20 crore nett. By the end of the day, that number may rise, and it might be that there is no drop at all from Thursday. That’s with the film facing competition from a major new release, Avatar: Fire and Ash, but that hardly seems to have made a dent. Unsurprisingly, this also means another daily box office record for the film, and once again by a ridiculous margin. The next best 3rd Friday is Rs. 12 crore nett by Chhaava.

This Friday numbers have made Rs. 700 crore a lock as the film will be crossing or near to crossing Rs. 600 crore nett by the end of this week. In fact, beating the all-time record for the Highest-grossing Hindi film, currently held by Pushpa 2 (Hindi) at Rs. 738 crore nett, is also virtually a lock, though confirmation will come over the weekend. Rs. 800 crore nett is now in play, which seemed to be pretty much unfathomable for an original Hindi film. Again, the more clarity on the same, it will come over the weekend and then the days ahead, but as things stand today, they are good.

Two weeks ago, when Dhurandhar released, the atmosphere was largely sombre. Pre-sales were not strong, and not much was expected for the long run, despite the film appearing good, due to genre and style limitations. There was also a forced controversy before release on how the lead actor “insulted” sentiments related to Kantara, due to which there were even some “boycott” calls. Then there was further negativity looming from the feeding reports in the industry. In short, obituaries were written, and some were even celebratory.

Cut to today, the film is putting numbers no one imagined from a Bollywood film, let alone something like this, which was dismissed for being “urban action type” that has no takers. It is often said that the box office is unpredictable, which feels like something just said for the sake of saying, because, of course, it can be predicted. But it is runs like Dhurandhar that give the phrase its meaning, because this is a result that simply no one predicted.

Malayalam film Bha Bha Bha has taken a superb start at the box office. Released on December 18, the Dileep starrer spoof action comedy stormed over Rs. 7.25 crore gross on its opening day. The extended cameo by Mohanlal has helped the movie in a big way. With such an impressive opening, Bha Bha Bha has set a strong base to further flourish its box office journey. 

Bha Bha Bha remained on par with Odiyan and emerged as the 5th biggest opener of all time at the Mollywood box office. The movie was only behind KGF Chapter 2, Coolie, LEO, and L2: Empuraan. Interestingly, Bha Bha Bha became the third Malayalam film to take an opening of Rs. 7 crore plus in Kerala ever. The first one to achieve this feat was Odiyan in 2018. Another interesting fact is that all three Malayalam movies have Lalettan in common. 

Bha Bha Bha recorded solid pre-sales for its second day, too, which means the movie is set for another strong business day at the box office. For the record, it grossed around Rs. 1.50 crore from the pre-sales alone for Day 2, by selling nearly 100K tickets in its home turf. The movie should aim for an excellent opening weekend at the box office. 

Since the movie has opened to positive reception so far, it is expected to keep gaining traction further on the weekdays as well. Bha Bha Bha will face Mohanlal’s Vrusshabha and Nivin Pauly’s Sarvam Maya from the Christmas period. However, movies with a positive reception often find audiences even after new releases. It will be interesting to see how the Dileep starrer performs in the Christmas-New Year holiday period. If it manages a strong hold, the movie will have a superb chance to not only emerge as Dileep’s biggest grosser but also Malayalam cinema’s one of the biggest grossers at the box office. 

As for Bha Bha Bha, the movie is a fast-paced action comedy about a guy’s revenge on a politician. Dileep and Mohanlal fans are happy because it’s a spoof comedy with a major use of references from their old movies. 

Stay tuned to Pinkvilla for more updates. 

Disclaimer: The box office figures are compiled from various sources and our research. The figures can be approximate, and Pinkvilla does not make any claims about the authenticity of the data. However, they are adequately indicative of the box-office performance of the films in question.