‘Pathaan’ mania sweeps aside boycott calls, sets new records
MUMBAI: At 8.41pm on Saturday, film trade analyst and editor of Film Information, Komal Nahta, put out an alert on Twitter that certain cinema halls in the tier-2 towns of Amravati, Dhule, Malegaon, Raipur, Bilaspur and Nashik were restricting entry of patrons. Exhibitors, i.e. cinema hall owners, said Nahta, were at their wits’ end trying to regulate the Pathaan audiences from jumping on their seats or rushing to dance close to the screen, in the process damaging it. More than the box office numbers which tell their own story, it’s this alert of Nahta’s which gives a sense of the
Pathaan mania sweeping across large parts of the country. After the ‘Boycott Bollywood Brigade’ threatened to disrupt the film’s release over Deepika Padukone’s tangerine-coloured bikini in the song Besharam Rang, it is this very song that’s prompting audiences to swoon over Shah Rukh Khan, turning the movie-watching into a visceral experience.
Pathaan became the first film in Hindi cinema history to gross ₹100 crore worldwide in a single day when it opened on Wednesday. Over the next four days it grossed over ₹200 crores, its ₹160 crore net in the first three days smashing the opening weekend records set by Sanju for a Hindi film with ₹119 crore approximately and later topped by KGF2 (Hindi) with ₹140 crore approximately. It is now headed to becoming the biggest Indian film worldwide in original format or in a single language. “By the end of first week, the film is expected to do a business of ₹350 crore and ₹450 crore by the second week going by the rush and advance booking. This could put it ahead of Dangal’s ₹385 crore lifetime business, KGF2’S (Hindi) ₹445 crore and maybe even Bahubali: The Conclusion’s (Hindi) ₹500 crore,” says Nahta.
At a time when the Hindi film industry has been in the doldrums, its star eclipsed by south Indian spectacles, Pathaan’s stupendous run has brought much cheer, especially for the exhibitors. Kamal Gianchandani, president, Multiplex Association of India, says the film has debunked the growing narrative that after two years of Covid-triggered shutanything),
downs, people are in no mood to return to the theatres for a Hindi film. For exhibitors, the number of Hindi movies releasing directly on OTT platforms or the increasingly short window for theatrical run being negotiated by OTT executives was posing an existential crisis. But Pathaan’s opening has changed that, exults Gianchandani. “We are back to the pre-covid eight-week window between a film releasing in the theatres and on any other platform, and this has been achieved with absolutely no dispute with stakeholders.”
Manoj Desai, executive director of G7 Multiplex and Maratha Mandir Cinema in Mumbai, is also celebrating. For the first time his multiplexes ran shows at 9am and 9.30am for SRK’S fan clubs on the opening day. Subsequently, they’ve been running eight shows daily. At his other theatre Maratha Mandir, famous for running a show of Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge uninterrupted since its release in 1995, the other three shows running are of
Pathaan, “underlining Shah Rukh’s sustaining star power,” says Desai. Shah Rukh Khan may be under attack by trolls outside but inside the theatres, he remains the beloved larger-than-life hero. In fact, his screen persona is so fused with his personal charisma that Komal Nahta insists the boycott calls have only boomeranged.
“His son Aryan being jailed on baseless drug-possession charges followed by the unrest over
Pathaan’s trailer has made people come out in huge numbers to teach detractors a lesson for victimising their matinee idol; it’s the vengeance of the masses,” he says dramatically. Shah Rukh Khan, perhaps realising the hold he has on his fans’ imagination, marketed
Pathaan differently from other movies, bypassing all traditional promotional tools and opting for a series of Reddit AMAS (Ask Me answering hundreds of fans’ questions with his razorsharp wit. At 57, he has emerged as the alternative global star, with a crossover appeal in Germany, Australia, New Zealand, the Middle Eastern countries, Egypt and the sub-continent, in addition to the traditional NRI audiences in the UK, Canada and the US.
Exhibitor Akshaye Rathi points out the overseas collections of some of his earlier films like Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna had overshadowed the domestic collection and now Pathaan too is bringing in big revenues from markets like Germany and the UK which had been diminishing for Hindi films of late. “Today, apart from the Indian diaspora, non-indian audiences too are beginning our content in good quantum numbers as evidenced by the success of Dangal, Bahubali, RRR and now Pathaan. That the film is an addition to Yash Raj Film’s spy universe is the added attraction. War, the Tiger films and
Pathaan will create a mammoth IP, and spur the business of action films of other stars too, hopefully creating more such universes,” he says. Anees Bazmee who directed
Bhool Bhulaiya 2, one of the few big hits of 2022, breaks down
Pathaan’s success to the simple fact that the filmmakers have gone back to good old-fashioned masala movie-making. “For me, Pathaan is a true family masala entertainer and one of the reasons for its success is definitely SRK. There is so much love for him, both here and abroad, but Deepika (Padukone) and John (Abraham) are excellent too and Salman (Khan) bhai’s cameo is the cherry on the cake.”
Agrees Subhash Ghai. “In their confusion after the proliferation of the OTT platforms, Bollywood filmmakers had begun making pocket-sized subjects for theatres and failed while their South counterparts minted money from creating big spectacles with interesting narratives. Pathaan has reminded everyone that big entertainers, be it Sholay, Dangal, Bajrangi Bhaijaan or my own Khal-nayak, Karma or Saudagar never fail to bring in the audience,” points out the ’80s showman. The film’s last scene sums up the Pathaan phenomenon best. Even after 30 years, Bollywood still needs Shah Rukh Khan, and ‘Tiger’ Salman, to resurrect itself and blast off all those Doomsday prophecies.