Thu Dec 26 09:22:23 UTC 2024: ## Baby John Makes Decent, but Not Spectacular, Box Office Debut
**Mumbai, India** – Varun Dhawan’s Bollywood action thriller, *Baby John*, opened to a respectable ₹10 crore (approximately $1.2 million USD) at the Indian box office on Christmas Day. Early estimates even placed the figure higher, at ₹12.5 crore. However, the film’s performance falls short of its Tamil original, *Theri*, which raked in ₹13.1 crore on its opening day in Tamil Nadu alone.
Despite the holiday release, *Baby John*, a remake of *Theri* starring Vijay, faced stiff competition from *Pushpa 2*, which continued its strong run, collecting ₹20.7 crore on its third week. Hindi occupancy for *Baby John* was 24.53 percent on Wednesday. The film’s success over the extended holiday weekend remains to be seen.
Directed by Kalees and produced by Atlee (director of *Jawan*), *Baby John* boasts a star-studded cast including Keerthy Suresh, Wamiqa Gabbi, Jackie Shroff, Rajpal Yadav, and a cameo by Salman Khan. However, initial reviews have been mixed, with criticism leveled at the film’s pacing and lack of direction in the first 40 minutes. One critic described the film as a “mish-mash” borrowing heavily from Atlee’s previous work, *Jawan*. The film’s box office performance in the coming days will be crucial in determining its overall success.
First Piper 