Varun Dhawan  in October
Varun Dhawan in OctoberMovie Stills

Varun Dhawan's October may have taken a slow start at the box office but the Shoojit Sircar directorial has been riding high on positive word of mouth. The movie, which opened to a low occupancy, showed 48 percent growth Saturday and maintained the pace on Sunday mainly at the multiplexes across the country.

It collected Rs 5.04 crores Friday and raised it to Rs 7.47 crores at the box office Saturday. The upward trend continued Sunday and earned Rs 7.74 crores and took the movie's box-office collection to more than Rs 20 crores.

Trade analyst Taran Adarsh took to Twitter to share the movie's box office collections and wrote, "#October witnessed ample growth on Sat and Sun, after a slow start on Fri morning/noon... While the trending is healthy, it's all about maintaining the pace on weekdays now... Fri 5.04 cr, Sat 7.47 cr, Sun 7.74 cr. Total: ₹ 20.25 cr. India biz."

The movie, which was released on 1683 screens in India and 625 overseas (total worldwide 2308 screens), received a mixed response from the audience. Some loved the disturbing love story of two youngsters, while some found it boring and slow.

On the other hand, film critics lauded Varun for stepping away from being a regular commercial Bollywood hero and praised his brave attempt in exploring himself as an actor so early in his career.

Though film's lead actress Banita Sandhu didn't get enough to showcase her acting skills, but she left a mark in the hearts and minds of many with her mute act as a coma patient.

Made with a budget of approximately Rs 40 crores, October is expected to collect between Rs 25-28 crores at the box office in the first week of its release.

Watch the trailer here: