Monitoring Desk
ISLAMABAD/MUMBAI: Despite objections from some religious groups over scenes they deemed offensive, Shah Rukh Khan’s Hindi spy thriller Pathaan had one of Bollywood’s best premieres ever on Wednesday with packed theatres in India.
According to a Box Office report, “Pathaan has recorded a phenomenal opening day at the box office as it takes an INR500-510 million net collection in its Hindi version, as per early estimates.”
Khan plays a spy fighting a militant group in Pathaan, so the film’s success is crucial for the Indian film industry, which since the Covid-19 pandemic had a string of high-profile flops.
Pathaan’s opening was the second-best in Bollywood after Baahubali
Even on a non-holiday, mid-week day, when viewers don’t flock to theatres, Pathaan “witnessed a monster opening, the second-best in Bollywood ever,” said Girish Johar, a producer and trade analyst who watches box-office statistics.
Pathaan, which marks Khan’s comeback to the big screen after a four-year absence, sold roughly 556,000 tickets on the opening day, slightly behind Baahubali 2’s 650,000 first-day sales record, according to movie critic Taran Adarsh. He claimed on Twitter that Pathaan “had it all: Star power, flair, scope, melodies, soul, content, and surprises” and that Khan was “back with a vengeance.”
According to Johar, Pathaan had a high occupancy rate of 65%–75% on its opening day, which is unusual for a Bollywood movie, especially given that it was in the middle of the week. According to Adarsh, the movie will now be screened on 8,000 screens, 2,500 of which are located overseas, where Khan has a significant fan base.
Protest by right-wing Hindu nationalists
Since Pathaan’s commercial trailers featured actress Deepika Padukone dancing to a racy song while wearing an orange bikini, right-wing Hindu nationalist organisations have been protesting against it. They said that the pictures mocked the Hindu faith, which reveres the color saffron as a sign of devotion.
Hemanta Ratha, leader of the Odisha political group Kalinga Sena, criticized Khan and tore down the movie’s posters on Wednesday, saying, “It is full of obscenities. It will negatively affect society,”
However, local media depicted viewers singing along to the soundtrack as it played, dancing inside theatres, and waving their smartphones in the air.
