Bunny and Naina have romanced and danced, backslapped and kissed their way into the record books. The Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani buddyhood has spelt big bucks at the box office — all of Rs 62.11 crore in the first weekend.

The Ranbir Kapoor-Deepika Padukone romance may be miles away from Ek Tha Tiger’s record opening day booty of Rs 32.92 crore, but the Saturday figure of Rs 20.16 crore and the Sunday numbers of Rs 22.5 crore have powered YJHD past the Rs 60.32-crore mark set by the Salman Khan biggie in the 2012 Independence Day weekend.

“There is only word to describe the response to Yeh Jawaani… and that’s outstanding. It isn’t an easy feat to break an Ek Tha Tiger record, but Yeh Jawaani… has done that handsomely. The film is here to stay and will only go from strength to strength,” said Mumbai-based trade analyst Taran Adarsh.

Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani’s weekend collections are just second to that of Salman Khan’s Dabangg 2, that earned Rs 64.66-crore when it released in December last year.

With the young and the young-at-heart trooping in to catch the Ayan Mukerji-directed film, West Bengal accounted for a healthy part of the Yeh Jawaani… pie in its first weekend. YJHD collected Rs 2 crore 96 lakh in its first three days, a record of sorts. “We had expected a collection of around Rs 2 crore, but the figures have come as a huge surprise,” said Debashish De of Aum Moviez, the film’s regional distributors.

At the INOX multiplexes, Ranbir’s boyish charm and Deepika’s nuanced act ensured that the weekend figures stayed between 90 and 100 per cent at all its properties. “The response has been fabulous with almost all shows being sold out. We have had to turn away a lot of people for want of tickets,” said Subhasis Ganguli, regional director, INOX. Even on Monday, there were many fans who made time for the film, with the multiplexes reporting brisk business.

At Fame, business was a little slow on Friday, but picked up considerably on Saturday and Sunday to stay between 85 and 90 per cent.

At the city’s standalone halls, the Yeh Jawaani... buzz translated into consistent houseful boards through the weekend. “It’s been a bumper three days for us and from the look of it, the Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani craze will last a long time. This is a film with box-office power,” said Naveen Chokhani of Navina on Prince Anwar Shah Road.

Weekend watch

Dabangg 2: Rs 64.66 crore

Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani: Rs 62.11 crore

Ek Tha Tiger: Rs 60.32 crore

Race 2: Rs 51.30 Crore

t2 campus: The girls go honey bunny while the boys moan over mohini

ABHINANDA DATTA, Jadavpur University

Nerd meets jock, falls in love, battle their differences and ultimately live happily ever after — a cliched boy-meets-girl plot, but director Ayan Mukerji creates magic, transforming Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani into a heart-warming tale of love, friendship and little moments that make life precious. The entire cast has done an amazing job but my eyes never wandered when Ranbir was on screen. His acting, his innocence, the absolutely disarming smile and that adorable lisp lit up the very few dull moments in the film. What really worked was the brilliant cinematography, Pritam’s foot-tapping music, the storyline and the chemistry between the lead pair. Even though Ranbir is no longer Deepika’s off-screen beau, their performance on-screen was nothing short of electrifying. This film strikes a perfect balance when it comes to love and seems closer to reality than the fairy-tale world. YJHD made me want to fall in love and taught me to love my life.

MANASI VORA, Modern High School for Girls

YJHD has been an amazing watch. This Ranbir and Deepika-starrer is a journey that teaches us how to live life. Naina breaks out of her shell and learns to live her life, something that is missing today as we are pressured to do what our parents want us to do. I’ve always been a die-hard fan of Ranbir Kapoor. His Bunny is a man who sees the world out-of-the-box, a perfect foil to Deepika’s character. The film portrays friendship, love and, above all, life. It has an engaging plot and some brilliant locations. It shows that not every friendship turns into love but love starts with friendship. I love the songs. Balam pichkari, the refreshing Ilahi, Kabira and Badtameez dil are my favourites.

SANJANA RAY, Presidency University

What I loved about the film is that being a young college student, I could relate to most of the story, especially when Bunny teaches Naina to break out of her ‘scholar Naina’ image and embrace freedom and to Bunny’s philosophy to keep going in life, despite its ups and downs. It was inspiring to see Bunny follow his dreams and fill up every single page of his dream journal. I loved how they showed that distance doesn’t come in the way of true friendship, and most importantly, what really sold the movie to me was the extremely energetic and fun songs and the clothes! Finally, what stood out in this movie was that each of the characters went along with whatever made them happy and did not sacrifice that in the interest of each other, yet resulting in a happy ending.

MOHIT SETH, KIIT School of Law

I liked YJHD because it had shades of every emotion. It was very different from the kind of romantic movies usually made in Bollywood. The story was such that everybody could relate to it and though the characters are quite predictable, Ranbir Kapoor’s screen presence and his acting makes you sit up and take notice right till the end. Also characters like Aditi, the chilled-out girl, and and Naina, the nerd, are totally relatable. The icing on the cake, though, was Madhuri Dixit (as Mohini). Her Ghagra makes you fall in love with her all over again.

ARKADEEP SINHA, St. Xavier’s College

YJHD is a bright and fresh film designed for the youth. It portrays the dilemma of youth, the rebellion and the phases they go through. The characters live their dreams, live their lives as they want. I can relate to Bunny who dreams of exploring the world. The first half of the movie with the trekking trip to Manali was rather action-packed. The music was awesome and fun. The second directorial feat of Ayan Mukerji does a decent job and overall YJHD is gorgeously filmed. The locations are eye-popping and the few minutes of Madhuri Dixit are something I really enjoyed.

SUVRA SANKAR BASU ROY, Jadavpur University

Perched on a hill-top overlooking Udaipur, Naina tells Bunny that life is full of choices, and that you have to set your priorities and asks him to savour life. That is the story. The film has many beautifully-crafted moments that lend the screenplay its subtlety and breathtaking appeal. The film’s plot, though not completely new, gets a boost with excellent performances from its four main characters. Ranbir is the heart of the film if Deepika is the soul. Aditya Roy Kapur gives a praiseworthy performance and Kalki brings energy and frivolous excitement to the table. Deepika proves her mettle straddling the nerdy Naina and sexy Naina decked in Manish Malhotra with confidence. Cheesy dialogues like “Tujhe chhey bachchey ek hi husband se chahiye ya main madad karoon?” provide humour. Pritam’s music is a high point. If not anything else, I think the film deserves a watch just to see Madhuri Dixit charm Ranbir with her Ghagra!