Prior to pandemic, Ayushmann Khurrana was enjoying a dream run when he had 8 back to back successes. Starting with Bareilly Ki Barfi, he went on to deliver hits continuously like Shubh Mangal Saavdhan, Andhadhun, Badhaai Ho, Article 15, Dream Girl, Bala and Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan – his last release before pandemic. Released at the time when the news around pandemic had started spreading, and then eventually there was a lockdown, the film went on to have a lifetime of 60.78 crores.

Things changed for the actor from this point on and ironically the first film to arrive on OTT during lockdown was his own Gulabo Sitabo. There was a lot of hue and cry around the film premiering on the small screen instead of waiting for the big screen release, though this became a norm in months down the line with biggies like Akshay Kumar’s Laxmi, Salman Khan’s Radhe and Varun Dhawan’s Coolie No. 1 also arriving straight on OTT.

Coming back to Ayushmann, once the lockdown was over, he couldn’t get the same kind of success in theatres with films like Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui, Anek and Doctor G not performing and even a well made film like An Action Hero not doing well despite good appreciation. He struck back with Dream Girl 2 emerging as a 100 Crore Club hit and then Thamma went on to enjoy his biggest opening ever and also crossing 150 crores mark, hence bringing him back in the game.

Now after a fair start, his Pati Patni Aur Woh Do has turned out to be a reasonable success as well with the second week holding well, hence taking the overall total to 48.83 crores. The film will cross 50 crores mark today and absence of any competition whatsoever means that Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan lifetime of 60.78 crores would be crossed as well during third weekend, if not during the second week itself. The film should eventually cross 65 crores and given the costs involved, this should be a decent enough lifetime for the comedy.

This is a welcome respite for the actor whose next release is Sooraj Barjatya’s biggie, which is a straight forward 100 Crore Club film in the making. In fact one never knows if the family flick goes on to cover an even larger distance, which means Ayushmann Khurrana could well be on a similar winning streak that he had enjoyed pre-pandemic. Given the kind of hit-n-miss rate that Bollywood has been seen for last few years, it’s a welcome sign to see Ayushmann back in the winning territory with decent to good results for three films in a row already, and hopefully months to come would be even better.

Now that’s good news not just for the actor but the film industry as a whole as that’s what keeps the box office ticking.