Will Allu Arjun's Pushpa 2 pose a box office threat to Varun Dhawan's Baby John? Kalees shares his insights [Exclusive]

Christmas 2024 and New Year 2025 is round the corner and to make things more exciting, Baby John is being released on the big screen as the big holiday entertainer. The film stars Varun Dhawan alongside Wamiqa Gabbi and Keerthy Suresh. It is presented by Atlee, produced by Murad Khetani and directed by Kalees, who has been assisting Atlee since many years ago, the recent being in Jawan. It is his first big Bollywood outing, just as it is Varun Dhawan's out and out commercial action film.

Interestingly, the film is releasing at a time when Allu Arjun, Rashmika Mandanna starrer Pushpa 2 The Rule, directed by Sukumar, is on a box office rampage. Trade has been divided over how this will pan out for Baby John, which will have to compromise on screens and also battle the huge buzz. While some day that Pushpa 2 frenzy will affect Baby John box office collection, others feel that the craze for massy actioners will only benefit Baby John as it comes during holiday season, and right after Pushpa 2 The Rule, where the audience is hooked to the genre.

BollywoodLife caught up with director Kalees at the Baby John Christmas bash in Mumbai to know his thoughts. Talking exclusively to Smrity Sharma, Kalees said, "We first need to understand what is happening right now and why. People were watching a lot of content on OTT but the whole experience of watching a big screen extravaganza was missing. That's when films like KGF, RRR came into the scene and audiences loved these films. That's how the mass film genre became a hit and every genre has a 7-year cycle. This is the peak. So the audience will not get tired of watching this genre anytime soon."

Talking about Baby John and how it will still appeal to the audience who are gravitating towards Pushpa 2, Kalees said, "Baby John is a proper commercial family film. It is about a good father and bad father. Both the films are different in essence. Here we are not exaggerating one character or glorifying what he does or can do. Baby John will touch your emotions. It will make you laugh and cry. It is a total package, like how South Indian films are."

Baby John releases on the big screens on Christmas, December 25, 2024.