Shillong, September 15: The year 2023 has undoubtedly become the Year of Shah Rukh Khan, leaving fans wondering if Rajkumar Hirani’s immigration drama ‘Dunki’ will mark the Bollywood King’s triumphant return to the silver screen after a four-year hiatus.
As per IANS, with Tamil director Atlee’s action-packed ‘Jawan,’ featuring SRK, Nayanthara, and Vijay Sethupati, surpassing the box office records of the year’s other major hit, ‘Gadar 2,’ starring Sunny Deol and Ameesha Patel, in just nine days, SRK now boasts the distinction of leading two certified blockbusters this year: ‘Pathaan’ and ‘Jawan.’
On the eighth and ninth days, ‘Jawan’ grossed Rs 21.90 crore and Rs 20.20 crore, respectively, with a worldwide collection of Rs 696 crore. In comparison, ‘Gadar 2’ had a worldwide collection of Rs 679.69 crore (including domestic gross receipts totaling 615.81 crore) on its 35th day, according to the trade website, Bollywood Hugama.
Trade analyst Ramesh Bala believes that if ‘Jawan,’ like ‘Pathaan,’ enters the Rs 1,000 crore club, which seems highly likely, it will be a remarkable achievement for Hindi cinema.
Bala also noted that ‘Jawan’ outperformed ‘Gadar 2’ in terms of worldwide earnings, despite the latter’s focus on a domestic anti-Pakistan narrative.
Looking ahead, Karan Taurani of Elara Capital pointed out that ‘Jawan’ faces little competition in the near future, as the next Hindi releases scheduled for September 28 include ‘Fukrey 3,’ which targets a niche audience, and Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri’s ‘The Vaccine War.’
Taurani believes that while the hype for ‘Jawan’ might wane slightly by September 28, the new releases won’t have a significant impact. However, he acknowledged that Agnihotri’s popularity following ‘The Kashmir Files’ could make ‘The Vaccine War’ a strong contender.
Bala, a keen observer of the southern market, predicts that the weekend ahead will see ‘Jawan’ surpassing Rs 750 crore in worldwide gross receipts, with net collections (excluding GST) in the South reaching Rs 400 crore.
By the film’s third weekend, Bala anticipates that its worldwide collection will exceed Rs 900-1,000 crore, especially as cinema occupancy has returned to pre-Covid levels.
Furthermore, if ‘Jawan’ secures screenings in Japan, China, and Russia, the total gross collection is poised to rise even further.