Shah Rukh Khan-starrer ‘Pathaan’: Blockbuster even before release?

Shah Rukh Khan’s much-awaited film ‘Pathaan’, co-starring John Abraham and Deepika Padukone, is finally in theatres. Ahead of its big premiere, the film created waves at the box office as the tickets sold out fast in several parts of India, registering record advance sales for the year.

According to industry tracker Sacnilk, the Siddharth Anand directorial sold tickets worth more than Rs 23 crore for day one, and worth Rs 13.3 crore for day two. Other days account for Rs 13.9 crore, with total pre-sales coming in at over Rs 50 crore.

‘Pathaan’s advance sales are higher than Hrithik Roshan and Tiger Shroff’s 2019 film ‘War’, which was director Siddharth Anand’s last film, and Aamir Khan’s 2018 film ‘Thugs of Hindostan’.
The Shah Rukh Khan-Deepika Padukone starrer trails only the Hindi dubbed versions of ‘Baahubali 2’ and ‘KGF: Chapter 2’.

The spy thriller marks SRK’s return to the silver screen after a span of four years and the hype around the film led to the reopening of several theatres, which were shut down due to COVID-19 pandemic.
‘Pathaan’ is going to revive 25 small screen theatres in India, most of which are located in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. These include Jaipur's Gem Cinema and Allahabad's Rajkaran Cinema.

Mumbai's Carnival R Mall in Mulund will also be screening ‘Pathaan’.

The spy thriller film will be screened in premium formats from 6 am onwards in India. According to Times of India, Yash Raj Films (YRF) have decided to screen ‘Pathaan’ in premium formats such as IMAX 2D, CGV 4DX 2D, D-BOX 2D, PVR P[XL] and CGR ICE 2D, due to the unprecedented demand from the audience.

It is a first Shah Rukh Khan film to have 6 am shows.

According to Indian Express, trade analyst Taran Adarsh said that the film’s advance numbers are bringing back joy to the industry, which had a rather rough 2022 with only a few hits.

The team of ‘Pathaan’ has NOT held grand promotional events ahead of its release, but King Khan had his own unique way of promoting the film. He frequently hosted ASK SRK sessions on Twitter.

In a statement, Siddharth Anand explained why he would not be promoting the film in full scale. He said, ‘Pathaan marks Shah Rukh Khan’s return to the movies after 4 long years. He has had very limited exposure to people in these four years and the hunger to see him is at an all-time high. It’s palpable and that’s what has contributed in a big way to the buzz that people are saying Pathaan has today.’

He added, ‘SRK. Just these 3 letters spell so much stardom, so much love and are just so iconic. The entire nation has loved him for so long and we are hopeful that our film will deliver on the promise to give a never-seen-before SRK to audiences. We want the euphoria around his return to reach a crescendo by January 25, the release date of Pathaan. Thus, we will start all our promotional activities only post the release of the film. We are all humbled to be receiving the unanimous love that we are getting for Pathaan so far and we can’t thank people enough.’

‘Pathaan’, which is part of Yash Raj Films' ambitious spy universe, will be available in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu versions across India.

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