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Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani's fate was sealed on the opening night, when an esteemed member of the Rs.100-crore movie club predicted that the Karan Johar production would storm the box office.
Johar was poring over negative reviews with the movie's director, Ayan Mukerji, when he got a text message from actor and producer Aamir Khan. "Aamir gave us a very big figure about which we were, like, are you nuts," Johar says. It turned out Khan, whose Ghajini and 3 Idiots mopped up Rs.100 crore and more, wasn't playing guessing games. "He was bang on more than anybody else," Johar says. "We were like, yippee, he is the ISI standard of excellence, so let's have another glass of wine."
Defying all expectations, Yeh Jawaani is headed for the record books. Produced by Johar's banner Dharma Productions and distributed in India by Disney UTV, the Rs.40-crore Ranbir Kapoor and Deepika Padukone starrer has survived lukewarm reviews to emerge as one of the highest-grossing Hindi films of all time. It opened on 3,200 screens on 31 May, mopped up Rs.104 crore between Friday and Sunday, according to veteran trade analyst Vinod Mirani, and kept soaking it up in subsequent weeks. Its estimated net earnings, as of 24 June, are Rs.183.19 crore.
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