After a dull week and indifferent performances,
Bollywood is rocking once again as
debutant director Shashank Khaitan’s
Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania (
HSKD) is grossing big moolah at home and abroad. But that’s not really surprising as the
rom-com released on July 11 has all the right
masala punched in, including the star cast. Yes, you have
Alia Bhatt and
Varun Dhawan back here and the chemistry you saw in
Student of the Year is still sizzling. Riding on hits like
2 States,
Highway and
Student of the Year, Alia’s Midas touch makes this feisty flick quite adorable while the storyline, a new millennium version of
Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, is another sure shot way to win hearts. So here’s another hit as
HSKD, produced by
Karan Johar, netted Rs 33.74 crore at the
domestic box office in the first three days (trade figure stands at Rs 33.41 crore) and grossed around Rs 5.55 crore overseas in the first weekend.
“
HSKD surpasses ALL expectations and has a FANTABULOUS Sunday: Fri 9.02 cr, Sat 11.25 cr, Sun 13.46 cr. Total: Rs 33.74 cr nett. India biz,” tweeted film critic and trade analyst Taran Adarsh.
Monday and Tuesday collections were pegged at Rs 5.60 crore and Rs 5 crore, respectively, as per industry estimates, taking the five-day total at home to around Rs 44 crore. Released in about 2,200 screens, the movie had a comparatively low budget of Rs 29 crore (including cost of production and P&A) and collections at the domestic
box office are way ahead of the amount. Going by the current trend,
HSKD is bound to hit the
Rs 50 crore mark in this week, but whether it can enter the coveted Rs
100 crore club is yet to be seen.
But ask us the secret behind
Humpty Sharma’s resounding success and we will falter after a couple of points. Yes, there is Alia Bhatt, aka
Kavya Pratap Singh, playing the spirited Ambala lass and getting her way in everything – be it buying an exuberantly priced
designer lehenga for her upcoming
shaadi with too-good-to-be-true NRI bridegroom
Angad Bedi (
Siddharth Shukla) or falling in love with the chance acquaintance Rakesh or Humpty (Varun Dhawan), a Delhi lad ready to go all out to claim his sweet
heart. While Alia charms all and looks like a modern-day Simran, Varun seems to be lacking Raj’s confidence and charisma. Still, pitted against the picture perfect Angad, Humpty’s vulnerability easily touches our heart.
However, there the pluses end. Rehashing an insanely popular
Bollywood classic is no easy task but a total lack of logic, shallow emotions, a ‘sudden’ change of heart and a make-believe climax can hardly support a great love story, even if it’s a millennial love story. It has its moments of warmth and sweetness, but the freshness wanes too soon and
director Shashank Khaitan leaves the story to meander through painful predictabilities. However, Bollywood buffs are still big-hearted enough to love a love story and that is one of the key reasons why
Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania is rocking the box office.
Images: Indiatimes
