Baby John was supposed to be a biggie with Varun Dhawan in an action-packed mass entertainer. But despite the hype and a Christmas release, the film has been a huge letdown, failing to impress the audience and underperforming at the box office.
According to trade analysts, the film collected only ₹27 crore over the extended weekend. ₹10.75 crore on the first day, followed by a steady decline in the following days. Now, the projections are for a lifetime total of ₹40-45 crore, which is way below the expectations for a star-driven action film.
Six months back, there were expectations that Baby John would do a business of at least 200 crores and turn Varun into a big star overnight. Even a few days before the release, it seemed like it would definitely cross the 100 crore mark. But what happened is beyond a nightmare. The film doing less than 50 crores in lifetime business is the worst of the worst. An unimaginable disaster.
Baby John failed due to a lack of originality. As a remake, it didn’t bring anything new to the table, and the audience was not impressed with the predictable story. Compared to films like Pushpa and KGF, it felt generic and uninspired, leading to poor word of mouth.
For Varun Dhawan, this is a big setback and highlights the importance of choosing the right scripts. Trade analysts say that the film’s failure points to a bigger disconnect between old formulas and new-age audiences, and filmmakers should focus on originality.
Baby John shows us the risks of remakes without anything new. The audience wants fresh and interesting stories. For Varun Dhawan, this is a reminder to be more selective with his films. Filmmakers should focus on creativity to avoid such failures.
