Pathaan advance booking: SRK's film to break KGF records, eyeing a bumper opening

Pathaan seems to bring Shah Rukh Khan back to where he belongs. The advance booking trends across the country suggest that the film is likely to break earlier advance booking records. Set to be released across India in 5,000 screens, Pathaan arrives in cinema halls on January 25.

Mumbai: Given the enthusiastic response of movie-goers in advance booking, industry experts are confident that Shah Rukh Khan-starrer Pathaan will open somewhere between Rs 45 to 50 crore at the box office. The Yash Raj Films project, which marks Shah Rukh's return to leading men roles after 2018's Zero, is set to hit cinema halls a day before the Republic Day, which gives the Hindi film a five-day extended opening weekend.

The advance bookings for Pathaan, backed by Yash Raj Films, opened on January 20. The film is reportedly set to be released across Indian in 5,000 screens. It is a first Shah Rukh Khan film to have 6 am shows. Trade expert Taran Adarsh said Pathaan will revive Bollywood and will mark the beginning of a fantastic 2023 for the industry, which went through a lean period during COVID and in 2022.

• Pathaan opening day box office, estimated:

According to trade experts, Pathaan is going to take a historic start at the box office. If buzz in the industry is anything to go by, Pathaan opening day collections will be around Rs 45 to Rs 50 cr. The box office revival will begin with Pathaan', especially looking at its advance booking, which is very rare. It is a great start to 2023 despite being a working day.

• Phenomenal advance booking at multiplex chains:

Sanjeev Kumar Bijli, Joint Managing Director, PVR Limited, said they have witnessed a phenomenal advance booking at their 903 chains across India. "We have a phenomenal opening of Pathaan with advances of close to 5 lac admissions for the first long weekend of the movie. This will be the first SRK film that will open at 6 am in PVR cinemas," Bijli said in a statement.

• Over 1 mn tickets booked:

According to the leading ticketing platform BookMyShow (BMS), over one million tickets have been booked. The advance sales for Pathaan have been opening up in phases with over 3,500 screens available on BMS so far, besides there is a surge in demand to open up early morning shows as well.

• Pathaan to break KGF record:

Leading multiplex chain INOX is optimistic that Pathaan will break records. It is one of the best advances at INOX at their 722 screens across India. INOX alone have sold more than 1.5 lac tickets for Wednesday and more than 3.5 lac tickets till Sunday. "This film is going to break the advance booking of KGF 2' and will do a business of Rs 45 to 50 cr, Rajendra Singh Jyala, chief programming officer at multiplex chain INOX, said.

• Single screens witness bumper advance booking:

Not just multiplexes, the film is enjoying bumper advance booking in single screen theatres as well. Mumbai's popular single-screen theatre Gaiety, Galaxy and Maratha Mandir has ticket booking of 70 to 80 per cent. "For the first time, we are having morning shows starting from 9am for SRK fan clubs, who have almost booked the entire theatre," Desai said, adding, the ticket prices have been kept nominal in the range of Rs 130 to Rs 160.

• Pathaan gets encouraging response from South:

Pathaan is also one of the first films from Bollywood that's leading the charts in advance booking in southern parts of the country. "South India has been particularly impressive showcasing an upward trajectory with Hyderabad, Chennai and Bengaluru contributing almost 30 percent of the overall advance sales so far. As the pace of ticket sales picks up further closer to the movie's release date, we are confident that Pathaan is set to take the box office by storm," he added.

Pathaan advance booking response from the South of India is very encouraging. The movie is being released in Tamil and Telugu (and) it has opened really well in Kerala in its original language of Hindi. It has been an encouraging response to out-of-home entertainment experience to families.

Pathaan will hit big screens on January 25 in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.