And the D-DAY is here, as Shah Rukh Khan returns to the big screen after 4 long years with the Siddharth Anand directed Pathaan. The film has been creating new records in its advance booking all through the last week and has finally closed the tally by selling 5.6 lakh tickets in the three chains – PVR, Inox and Cinepolis. The movie has scored the biggest advance till date for an outright Hindi film and has easily surpassed the overall advance booking of the Hrithik Roshan and Tiger Shroff led War, which had sold 4.10 lakh tickets. The response to advance booking is historic to say the least which speaks volumes about the hype surrounding the film.
Pathaan defeats KGF 2 (Hindi)
When we look at it from a Pan India perspective, Shah Rukh Khan starrer has surpassed the advance bookings of the Yash led KGF 2, which had sold approximately 5.15 lakh tickets in the three chains. Pathaan has scored the second biggest advance of all time in the three national chains after the SS Rajamouli directed Bahubali 2 (6.50 lakh tickets), which released in 2017. What makes this achievement even bigger is the fact that Pathaan is a non-holiday release, whereas KGF 2 and War had released on National Holidays.
On all India basis, Pathaan has sold over 11 lakh tickets, and has yet again scored a record for a Bollywood film by a big margin. The advance booking records scored by Pathaan will stay intact for a long long time as it would take a Hindi film with unheard hype to topple this feat, especially on a non-holiday. Pathaan is targeting a first day all India business in the range of Rs 50 crore, with the Hindi version having a real chance of scoring over Rs 45 crore on its opening day. Pathaan will also be targeting to become the first ever Bollywood film to score a century in 2 days.
Pathaan to release on 7700 screens
The YRF production is releasing on 5200 screens in India (4800 Hindi), with another 2500 screens in the international market taking the global screen count to 7700. The shows for the film start from as early as 6 am, and it is expected to have round the clock showcasing on January 26 aka. Republic Day. It also features Deepika Paudkone and John Abraham in lead roles with an extended cameo from Salman Khan as Tiger. Stay Tuned to Pinkvilla for more box office reports on Pathaan.
