He has stayed true to his word. In the trailer, Shah Rukh Khan’s Pathaan had promised fireworks. Sure enough, three days into the film’s release, it’s all fireworks at the box office. Director Siddharth Anand’s espionage thriller, which released in 5,500 screens across India, earned Rs 55 crore on the opening day, registering the highest first-day opening for a Hindi film. On the second day, it only got better. Pathaan earned a whopping Rs 68 crore, to take the two-day tally to Rs 123 crore, thus becoming the fastest Hindi film to cross the Rs 100-crore mark.

Considering Khan was returning to the big screen after over four years, most expected the spy thriller to make waves at the box office. But trade analyst Taran Adarsh says that the “humongous” figures have surpassed expectations.

“No Hindi film has done such business on a single day. Shah Rukh and great word-of-mouth have proved to be a fantastic combination. Salman Khan [in a pivotal part] was the sone pe suhaaga,” he says.

The film, also starring Deepika Padukone and John Abraham, has the advantage of a long weekend. Adarsh adds, “Pathaan will cross the lifetime domestic collections of SRK’s Chennai Express [about Rs 225 crore] in five days.”

The film’s runaway success not only marks a reversal of fortune for the industry that bled in 2022, but also for production house Yash Raj Films after a hat-trick of flops in Samrat Prithviraj, Jayeshbhai Jordaar and Shamshera last year. But the success is the most significant for Khan, who had taken a sabbatical in 2018 after a series of duds.

Distributor-exhibitor Harsh Jain points out that the boycott calls and controversy preceding the movie’s release could not affect its prospects. “The controversy also added to the buzz around the film. Shah Rukh didn’t do interviews or city tours, nor did he promote it on TV shows.”

Trade analyst Atul Mohan seconds his opinion, stating that the controversy around Besharam Rang only drew more attention to the film. “The brouhaha piqued public interest, making them throng theatres to see what the fuss was all about,” he states, astounded by the collection.

“If the content wasn’t strong, the second-day figures would have [dipped]. Usually, for a good film, the second-day numbers are in the same range as the first. Here, it saw a 20 per cent jump.”

With no big release over the next two weeks, the superstar’s offering is expected to maintain the momentum.