“SUNNY SANSKARI KI TULSI KUMARI” OPENS ON DUSSEHRA; EARLY BUZZ CALLS IT A “HIGHLY ENTERTAINING ROMCOM”

By Sarhind Times Entertainment Bureau | Mumbai | October 2, 2025

MUMBAI: Dharma Productions’ festival release “Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari” opened in cinemas this Dussehra, squaring up to the Kannada big-ticket “Kantara: Chapter 1.” The Varun Dhawan–Janhvi Kapoor romcom rolled out to healthy holiday footfalls and a stream of upbeat first reactions, with early audiences branding it a “fun, family entertainer” and praising Dhawan–Kapoor chemistry. Trade chatter through the morning signalled decent walk-ins with room to grow on word-of-mouth, as the film rides a long weekend and late-evening Ravan-Dahan crowd flows.

The festival clash: romance vs folklore epic

On paper, the Dussehra box office offers a study in contrasts. “Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari” (Hindi)—a bright, urban romcom—goes head-to-head with “Kantara: Chapter 1” (Kannada)—a darker, folklore-infused prequel mounted at scale. Both arrived today with simultaneous nationwide shows and localisation strategies (subbed/dubbed prints in key markets). Early trade coverage flagged a big advance for “Kantara” in core belts while noting softer, catch-up advances for “Sunny…”—the kind of split that often evens out on a family holiday, where walk-ins matter as much as pre-sales.

What we know at noon:

First reactions for “Sunny…” skew positive—“entertaining romcom,” “family-friendly,” “chemistry works.”
Day-1 trade guides for “Sunny…” are clustered in an ₹8–10 crore opening-day band (gross + net figures will firm up by late night).
Advance bookings: snapshots ranged from ₹1.16 crore (Moneycontrol, morning tally) to ₹2.5–3 crore projections on some trackers as late sales kicked in; state-wise dashboards showed mixed uptake.
“Kantara: Chapter 1” stormed into release with robust pre-sales and a blizzard of fan reactions out of early shows.

Note: All box-office and advance figures are provisional/early estimates; consolidated studio/industry numbers typically arrive late night or next morning.

The film in focus

Title: Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari
Director: Shashank Khaitan (Dharma Productions)
Cast: Varun Dhawan, Janhvi Kapoor, Sanya Malhotra, Rohit Saraf (with Maniesh Paul, Akshay Oberoi in support)
Language: Hindi
Runtime: ~135 minutes (U/A)
Release: October 2, 2025 (Dussehra) across India and select overseas territories.

Khaitan, who previously steered mainstream romances with pop energy, leans into a throwback-meets-now flavour here: a modern city romance mounted with old-school filmy beats, ensemble humour and an ear for buzzy tracks. The marketing run—teaser, trailer, music roll-out—landed late August through September, with the holiday date locked after earlier reshuffles.

Early audience pulse: what people are saying

Through morning shows, social and live blogs rang with “highly entertaining,” “family watch,” “chemistry clicks,” “colourful songs.” The first wave of netizen takes—always noisy on festivals—suggests the film lands its primary promise: light, breezy escape for all-ages groups that flock to holiday slots. Mainstream desks tracking walk-ins added that the multiplex-family cohort appears to be warming as the day progresses—typical of Dussehra footfall curves.

A few critical voices (including one early media review) pointed to a rushed final act and a couple of awkward comic beats, but that hasn’t dented the broad audience verdict this morning: “worth it for the fun and chemistry.” In other words, a word-of-mouth play—and on a long weekend, that’s half the battle.

The box-office math: how Day-1 may shape up

Pre-sales were modest by festival standards—several trackers put the release-day advances around ₹1–1.5 crore by breakfast, with a late-surge hope to ₹2.5–3 crore as noon and evening shows filled in metros and Tier-1. That’s below the “front-loaded” blockbuster template, but a romcom with family appeal often compensates via walk-ins and spot buying—especially on Dussehra.

Trade guides on opening-day potential converged in the ₹8–10 crore zone (nett, Hindi), assuming decent evening momentum. Lower out-turns are possible if “Kantara” pulls away in shared circuits; higher is plausible if post-work Ravan-Dahan crowds swing multiplex-heavy toward the romcom. Either way, the Saturday bump (and Sunday carry) will be decisive for the weekend arc.

The clash effect: where “Kantara: Chapter 1” bites—and where it doesn’t

Rishab Shetty’s “Kantara: Chapter 1” arrived with surging pre-release curiosity and heavy advance momentum in Kannada heartlands and select Hindi belts. Live pages this morning chronicle a fan-driven frenzy—cue goosebumps posts and “blockbuster” chants—backed by strong pre-sales data. That’s the hard reality of festival competition: a high-octane Kannada epic can soak up single-screen capacity and chew into dubbed-Hindi circuits that a romcom also needs for scale.

But the overlap is not total. “Sunny…” plays strongest in metro-multiplex clusters and family-friendly slots where language fidelity matters less than comfort and cast pull. Holiday couples’ shows, post-puja family outings, and girls’-night groups are the romcom’s natural habitat. The task is to hold those lanes, push late-evening conversions, and keep weekday attrition gentle—especially as schools/colleges reopen after the break.

Inside Team “Sunny…”: the parts that click

Dhawan–Kapoor pairing: The second outing after Bawaal, this is the first pitched as straight romcom—a register that suits Dhawan’s physical comedy and Kapoor’s breezy charm. Early viewers call out spark in banter, dance set-pieces, and the ‘it’s complicated’ tug-of-war the script sets up.

The ensemble: Sanya Malhotra and Rohit Saraf are more than garnish; both reportedly get room to riff, letting the film alternate between lead-pair feints and ensemble mischief. Cameos (Maniesh Paul, Akshay Oberoi) add top-spin to a couple of set-pieces.

Music & colour: Holiday romcoms live or die on hooky tracks and KJo-school staging—the album has the familiar Tanishk/Guru/Sachet-Parampara mix, and the trailer songs have been doing rounds on short-video feeds since mid-September. Festive-friendly, wedding-playlist-ready numbers help sustain footfalls past opening day.

Strategy watch: how the film can win the weekend

Own the evening: Dussehra walk-ins skew to 6:30–10:30 pm. If occupancy hardens in these bands, Day-1 smooths out late.
Lean on couples + families: Keep show-timings tight around puja calendars; protect prime screens in premium formats where romcoms over-index.
Ride WOM cycles: Nudge cast-led city hops and surprise theatre visits Friday evening to spike buzz; seed clip-able comic bits across social.
Stabilise Tier-2 metros: Cities like Jaipur, Lucknow, Chandigarh, Indore, Kochi (Hindi plexes) can compensate for Tier-3 softness.
Hold weekdays: A romcom wins with low weekday drops; the goal is <45% Monday fall vs Friday (nett).

The weekend curve: three plausible arcs

The “brisk romcom” arc: Friday lands mid of guide; Saturday jumps 35–45%; Sunday stays flat/-5%; Monday settles to a gentle step-down—good WOM, healthy finish.
The “crowded holiday” arc: Friday under-delivers; Saturday grows 20–25% but “Kantara” hogs single-screen supply; Sunday plateaus—OK WOM, tight runway.
The “break-out” arc: Friday surprises at the upper band; Saturday erupts 50%+; Sunday flattish; talk shifts to legs > clash—best-case WOM.

Which path the film takes will be evident by late Saturday afternoon.

The competitors’ lane: why “Kantara” matters to “Sunny…”

“Kantara: Chapter 1” is not a classic four-quadrant romcom rival; it’s a regional behemoth with dubbed reach. Its strength is male-skewed mass centres and event-cinema energy—exactly the shows that fill first regardless of genre. If the prequel’s Hindi-belt walk-ins accelerate on buzz, “Sunny…” must ring-fence premium plexes and double down on family slots to protect yield. (Morning liveblogs and updates show the Shetty film generating loud fan-energy already.)

Still, holiday weekends can lift multiple boats. Exhibitors across the North noted evening spillovers from Dussehra events last year—a pattern likely to repeat today. For “Sunny…,” that means having clean, frequent show options when crowds decide to step in last minute.

The longer view: what a romcom needs in 2025

The Hindi romcom has been rebuilding its case in the post-pandemic cycle. Hits skew star-led, music-forward, city-slick, and calibrated for re-watchability. Where they stumble is front-loaded marketing with thin legs. “Sunny…” gives itself a fighting chance by arriving on a festival, keeping the tone bright and runtime manageable, and pairing leads with social media pull. Now the question is legs: Can it sustain into weekdays, then the second weekend? That arc depends less on trade predictions, more on audience satisfaction—do crowds walk out smiling, recommending, and singing the hooks?

What critics and trackers flagged this morning

Upside: Lead chemistry, breezy humour, eye-candy staging, family comfort watch.
Watch-outs: An uneven final stretch; occasional awkward gags; clash pressure on shows outside metros.
Data points: Advances ₹1.16 crore (Moneycontrol AM peek) with trackers modelling ₹2.5–3 crore end-of-day pre-sales; ₹8–10 crore opening-day potential contingent on evening pull.
The rival’s surge: “Kantara: Chapter 1” clocked heavy pre-sales; first shows triggered fervent social reactions.

Credits & craft: the people behind the gloss

Khaitan returns to his comfort zone—high-gloss romance with comedic fizz—backed by Dharma’s production grammar. On the technical table: Manush Nandan (cinematography), Manan Sagar/Charu Shree Roy (editing) and a song-stack spanning Tanishk Bagchi, Sachet–Parampara, Guru Randhawa. The cast expands beyond the leads—Sanya Malhotra and Rohit Saraf have their moments, and supporting turns (Maniesh Paul, Akshay Oberoi) slot into the gag machinery without derailing the central thread.

Audience guide: who should watch this today?

Couples and college groups chasing a light, chatty diversion.
Families looking for clean, colourful fun with hummable songs.
Varun/Janhvi fans who enjoy their live-wire, slightly chaotic screen vibe.
Clash-curious cinegoers sampling both films: Kantara for scale & folklore, Sunny… for sugar-rush romcom.

What would count as success

Solid weekend multiple: If Saturday/Sunday expand 25–45% on Friday, the film’s WOM is working.
Soft Monday drop: <45% Monday vs Friday is a keeper for romcom legs.
Hold in metros + Tier-2 plexes: Protecting premium screens and early-evening shows—where the target audience congregates—extends runways.
Playlist stickiness: A couple of tracks finding viral-loop life sustains casual viewership into week two.

“Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari” lands exactly as advertised: festival-friendly, chemistry-driven, high-gloss romcom. In a Dussehra duel with a folklore juggernaut, its road to a winning weekend runs through word-of-mouth and evening walk-ins. Early signals say the audience is smiling; now it’s on the film to translate smiles into legs.

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