The King is back. SRK’s Paathan feels like a blockbuster even before release

Yash Raj Films’ Pathaan may be embroiled in controversies in India, but its brisk pre-release business shows that entertainment and good content always wins, say film industry experts. Here’s a look at Pathaan’s potential box office business.

Shah Rukh Khan will be seen as a spy in Siddharth Anand’s Pathaan.

By Latha Srinivasan: Shah Rukh Khan’s Pathaan may be embroiled in controversy, but the pre-release business the movie is doing is showing King Khan is indeed back after a gap of four years. Pathaan is set to release on January 25 and the buzz for the film can’t get bigger than this.

Latest reports from Germany have revealed that advance theatre bookings for Pathaan, directed by Siddharth Anand and produced by Yash Raj Films, has already beaten Yash’s blockbuster KGF 2. The advance ticket bookings business for KGF 2 was Rs 1.2 crore whereas with nine days to go for the release of the Pathaan, the bookings have touched Rs 1.32 crore already. This is only set to become bigger in the coming days and the ticket bookings for India haven’t even opened yet.

PATHAAN CEMENTS MEGA OPENING

Now, how well SRK will do in India is the big question. In India, the advance booking of Pathaan will open on 20th January. Gaiety Galaxy in Mumbai has announced that it will screen a 9 am show on the first day and this is film history. No other star’s film has ever had a 9 am screening and this shows that Pathaan and SRK are all set to create a record opening day collection.

Pathaan stars SRK with Deepika Padukone and John Abraham and the movie trailer is a hit. This is the first time that King Khan will be seen in an out-and-out action entertainer.

Stated Pankan Jaysinh, CEO – Film Distribution, UFO Moviez, “The expectations for Pathaan are running sky high. This is a sleek action movie and it’s going to be liked by the masses and the class and across the generations. Exhibitors are scrambling to release it based on ground level feedback from their loyal audiences. And why not, after all, it’s The King Khan + YRF + Siddarth Anand after his blockbuster War.”

Though the first teaser and song of the film was trolled and ended up in controversy, the trailer created a very strong pre-release buzz and the movie has managed to redeem itself with the audience. Trade pundits told IndiaToday.in that the opening day collections should be around Rs 40 crore.

Trade and Exhibitor Akshaye Rathi, told IndiaToday.in, “The scale, size and production values of the film and what was shown in the trailer has generated a ballistic response from the audience. Day 1 of Pathaan release is a working day and the evening shows will be packed, but I see the Day 2 India business crossing Rs 45 crore. At the opening weekend, Pathaan is potentially looking at making Rs 175 to Rs 200 crore at the box office in India. It has cemented a big opening.”

Trade insiders also said that the initial boycott trends died down once the Pathaan trailer came out and added that a controversy cannot keep a good film from making money at the box office. Right now, Pathaan is looking at a neat first day worldwide business of nearly Rs 100 crore.

Yash Raj Films (YRF) has a different business strategy when it comes to its own films, stated insiders. Unlike other production houses, YRF does not sell its films but has its own tie-ups and distribution networks. Their in-house music label releases the audio and satellite is generally given to Sony or Star TV and OTT to Amazon Prime Video. But the OTT rights have reportedly not yet been sold for Pathaan as of now. Insiders said satellite and OTT rights could be sold for a whopping Rs 150 crore. Thus, Pathaan is potentially looking at a Rs 300 plus crore business come the first weekend of its release.

PRE-RELEASE BUSINESS BONANZA ABROAD

While in India, Pathaan may be facing boycott calls, the film is doing extremely brisk business in the foreign markets. Shah Rukh was in Dubai recently to promote the film – the trailer of the film was projected on the Burj Khalifa. He also attended the FIFA World Cup as part of his movie promotions. His film Raees, in fact, holds the highest ever opening of a Bollywood film on a working day in the UAE.

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In the UAE, an SRK stronghold, the movie is set to break Raees record opening day collection of US $ 350,000. The advance ticket booking for Pathaan in the UAE has reportedly made US $ 65000 already and there’s still 9 more days left for the release of the film.

Meanwhile, in Australia, trade reports state that Pathaan has made Aus $ 75,000 as of now in ticket sales and will crush the record of $ 187,000 held by Raees soon. In fact, the Hindi film will get 17 shows at the prestigious Reels Platinum Suites in Dubai. This is a first for any Hindi film.

Thus, going by trade reports coming in, Pathaan is turning out to be a huge hit in the overseas market already. It can surpass the collection of other films like KGF 2 and RRR at the international box office say trade pundits.