BKD first non-Khan/Kumar film Hit in mass VD ahead RK & RS - Trade

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We're only three months into 2017, but trade watchers and insiders alike have reason to celebrate. March will deliver the year's third Rs. 100-crore film afterRaees in January and Jolly LLB 2 in February. Badrinath ki Dulhania , which released earlier this month, has already raked in Rs. 71.77 crore net as of Monday (figures courtesy Boxofficeindia.com). Trade analysts such as Shailesh Kapoor (founder of Ormax Media, a firm specialising in trade insights) and Amul Mohan (trade expert and editor-in-chief of Super Cinema ) both predict the film will easily collect Rs. 120 crore in its lifetime. After all, there was little competition in the film's second week with releases like Machine , Aa Gaya Heroand Trapped. This week too, there's Phillauri and Anaarkali of Aarah , ensuring the Shashank Khaitan-directed film will continue to make significant business with residual collections.

Appeal and acclaim

The film has been criticised for its convenient portrayal of an empowered woman and lenient contempt for dowry, flippancy for male sexual abuse and perpetuation of stalking women. But it's done little to make a dent in the film's overall ratings and popularity. "It's earthy, it connects to small towns with its dialect and dialogues," says Kapoor, adding that the women empowerment angle and dowry issues have resonated more in the non-urban areas of the country. It's helped Badrinath achieve universal success, bringing out not just the youth, but their parents and older relatives. And the film has done reasonably well in the South, a tricky market for Bollywood to track. "Only the Khans and Akshay Kumar have got a market outside Chennai," says Sreedhar Pillai, a box office tracker of South Indian films. "You and I may be against stalking, but that is how commercial films work. There are similar types of films in the South and it's the kind of thing that works [there]."

The fact that Badrinath... quickly followed the first instalment of the franchise (Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania ) also helped. "This sequel works because in the three-year gap, the audience is still the same," says Mohan. "It makes the connection stronger. And that worked too."

What's more is that Badrinath has managed to achieve the universal appeal in March, a month that's traditionally disregarded for big-ticket releases. "Schools have examinations and [everyone] thinks people don't go to theatres during Holi," says Girish Johar, film trade analyst. "Some think it's the financial year's closing and film as an entertainment option [comes last]." But despite the stereotype, several films released during March have gone on to fare well. Take for instance Queen in 2014 and Kapoor and Sons in 2016. But Badrinath... will of course be one of the few to reach the Rs. 100-crore mark.

Star power

In the next couple of days, Badrinath will become the second film to earn in that range for both its leading stars. Previously, Alia Bhatt entered the club with 2 States (2014) and Varun Dhawan with ABCD2 (2015). It also effectively cements their position in the industry. "It's the biggest hit for Dhawan in the South, where only the Khans [have] reach," says Pillai. "And this is Bhatt's biggest hit. Even Dear Zindagi hasn't done as well."

Among the younger actors, there's competition between Dhawan, Ranveer Singh and Ranbir Kapoor. "But Ranbir has lost his momentum and Ranveer is in the Sanjay Leela Bhansali [camp] more than anything else," says Kapoor. "Varun is in a good position to be ahead of the other two."

The next step for the actor is to aim to be among the veterans of the industry like Hrithik Roshan, the Khans and Kumar. But the gap is wide, and the time required to get to the top will be several more hits and years.

Bhatt, on the other hand, is already leading the pack among her generation. She's had a brilliant inning last year with a range of roles, from a migrant inUdta Punjab to the girl next door in Kapoor and Sons. "She has less ground to cover," says Kapoor. "It's no longer a competition for her generation."

The film has done reasonably well in the South, a tricky market for Bollywood to track