Indian superstar Shah Rukh Khan is back, and in a big way, as his action-packed spy image Pathaan breaks records for a Hindi title in India and overseas since its debut on Wednesday. This also ends a long hiatus from the big screen as a mainstay for SRK and gives a boost to Bollywood which has had a rough run of late.
As of Friday, Yash Raj Films’ title has grossed $313 million ($39 million) worldwide. It’s already the biggest opening weekend for any Bollywood title in the world, with more to come today and tomorrow. It is expected to finish around $40 million in India and over $65 million worldwide by Sunday, which would make it one of the top starts for any Indian title alongside RRR, Baahubali 2 and KGF 2 .
According to Yash Raj, Pathaan has also set other new records: it is the fastest Hindi film to surpass 300 crore (36.8 million) worldwide and the first Hindi film to gross over 300 crore during the opening session.
On Friday, Pathaan netted 39.25 crore/47 crore gross (US$4.8M/US$5.77M) – Indian box office coverage is not centralized, causing some confusion. Meanwhile, his overseas gross as of Friday was $5.3 million, bringing the running total through Friday to $13.7 million.
Akshaye Widhani, CEO of Yash Raj Films said: “It is incredible that Pathaan has registered the biggest premiere ever in India and abroad… Pathaan has been blessed by Indians around the world and what is happening with this film is unprecedented and historical.”
In the film, which also stars Deepika Padukone and John Abraham, SRK plays the titular spy who takes on the leader of a group of mercenaries who have nefarious plans to target his homeland.
As it bowed on Wednesday, Pathaan recorded the biggest-ever Day 1 for a Hindi film in India at 57 crore ($7 million), and that on a non-holiday. This gave SRK its biggest opening at home (as well as worldwide), as did Abraham, while it was Padukone’s highest-ever first-day gross in India. It was also great for Yash Raj and director Siddharth Anand, in India and worldwide. Also on Wednesday, IMAX celebrated its biggest opening day ever for an Indian film.
Outside of India, Pathaan, part of producer Aditya Chopra’s ambitious spy universe, recorded the biggest opening day for an Indian film in the UK.
Through Day 2, Thursday (Republic Day in India), the worldwide box office totals increased to US$219.6 million (US$27 million). In India on Thursday, Pathaan was named the first Hindi film to top the 70-crore net collection ($8.6 million) in a single day.
We will update on Sunday.