Ayushmann Khurrana's films opened in the ₹9-10 crore range before the pandemic, but have not crossed ₹4 crore since then. Ayushmann Khurrana is hoping for a successful opening for his latest film, Dream Girl 2, which is set to release on August 25. The comedy film, directed by Raaj Shaandilyaa, is expected to earn ₹9-10 crore on its opening day.
Advance booking for the film has been strong, with over 26, 5550 tickets sold across the three major multiplex chains. Leading film trade analyst Taran Adarsh tweeted on Thursday that the advance booking of Dream Girl 2 has been strong, with over 26,5550 tickets sold across the three major multiplex chains: PVR, INOX, and Cinepolis.
Dream Girl 2 is expected to open in the ₹9-10 crore range, which would be Ayushmann Khurrana's biggest opening in post-pandemic times. Before the pandemic, three of his films opened in the same range in a row, including the first part of the Dream Girl franchise (2019), which opened at ₹10.05 crore, his biggest opening until then.
Dream Girl was followed by Amar Kaushik's social comedy Bala in 2019, which opened at ₹10.15 crore, Ayushmann Khurrana's biggest opening to date. This was also a sequel, to his 2017 film Shubh Mangal Saavdhan. Before Dream Girl, Ayushmann Khurrana's films had low openings but picked up pace due to positive word-of-mouth about their strong content.
He continued to pursue content-driven films post-pandemic, such as Abhishek Kapoor's 2021 romantic comedy Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui (opening ₹3.75 crore), Anubhav Sinha's 2022 thriller Anek (opening ₹1.77 crore), Anubhuti Kashyap's social comedy Doctor G (opening ₹3.87 crore), and Anirudh Iyer's An Action Hero (opening ₹1.31 crore), his lowest opening to date.
However, An Action Hero gained a large following after its release on Netflix India. Dream Girl 2 features Ayushmann Khurrana, Ananya Panday, Vijay Raaz, Paresh Rawal, Rajpal Yadav, Manjot Singh, Annu Kapoor, and Seema Pahwa, among others.