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‘ABCD 2’ has done better than what was predicted in this column last week. While it was a given that the film would be Varun Dhawan’s biggest opener till date (by beating Rs. 9 crore (Rs. 90 million) opening day of ‘Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhaniya’) and would certainly cross the Rs. 10 crore (Rs. 100 million) mark, it seemed like a stretch for it to be Shraddha Kapoor’s highest ever (her ‘Ek Villain’ had scored the opening day of Rs. 17 crore (Rs. 170 million)). However, what happened on the day of release was nothing less than a huge surprise for all involved. The film actually made a dash for the Rs. 17 crore (Rs. 170 million) mark but had to settle down for Rs. 14.3 crore (Rs. 143 million) mark, largely due to heavy rains in Mumbai.
Still, even a Rs. 14 crore (Rs. 140 million) opening day was much beyond expectations and in the process, 2015 record of ‘Gabbar Is Back’ (Rs. 13 crore – Rs. 130 million) was broken. The film continued to do well over the weekend as well and with close to Rs. 46.35 crore (Rs. 463.5 million) coming in, the highest weekend record of ‘Gabbar Is Back’ (Rs. 40 crore – Rs. 400 million) has been left behind as well. Now the next record in sight is Rs. 70 crore (Rs. 700 million) that ‘Tanu Weds Manu Returns’ had fetched in its opening week just a few weeks back. That should be comfortably surpassed by ‘ABCD 2′ this week, and hence the film will emerge as the highest opener of the year.’
With this, Varun has now scored his fifth straight success in a row since his debut (‘Student of the Year’) and this is a feat that no other actor in the recent times (or as far as memory goes) has enjoyed. He is on a dream run now and with ‘Dilwale’ set to be a huge success too, a double hat-trick is on the cards for the youngster. As for Shraddha, she has further cemented her positioning in the industry after ‘Aashiqui 2’, ‘Ek Villain’ and ‘Haider’. She is on a roll and one looks forward to how she delivers as a performer next.
As for ‘ABCD 2’, the film is now already a HIT and is en route to be a clean SUPERHIT as well.
Joginder Tuteja tweets @tutejajoginder
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