'Pathaan' off to flying start with Rs 106 crore worldwide gross on day1, biggest for any Hindi movie
New Delhi, Jan 26: Superstar Shah Rukh Khan made a grand comeback to the big screen with his new Hindi film "Pathaan" raising a whopping Rs 106 crore in worldwide gross on the opening day, the makers announced on Thursday.
According to production house Yash Raj Films (YRF), the movie registered the "biggest opening day in the history of Hindi cinema".
Domestically, the movie's nett day one collection stood at Rs 55 crore, which was the "highest grossing first day for a Hindi film", with its dubbed versions bringing in additional Rs two crore. "Pathaan" was also released in Tamil and Telugu on Wednesday.
The Siddharth Anand directorial, which faced boycott calls over the song "Besharam Rang", marks Shah Rukh's return to movies after a gap of over four years. His previous film was 2018's "Zero".
YRF said "Pathaan" had set multiple new records, including the "widest Hindi release of all time in India" and "highest grossing first day for a non-holiday release".
The first day gross collection of the stylish spy thriller is also the "highest ever" in Shah Rukh's career as well as for co-stars John Abraham and Deepika Padukone, director Anand and YRF, the studio stated in a press release.
"It is a historic day for Indian cinema and we are humbled to see the love and appreciation that is flowing for 'Pathaan' globally.
"For 'Pathaan' to shatter records in this fashion on a non holiday, just proves that the theatrical business is here to stay, provided we make films that entice people to come to the cinemas to witness a never seen before experience that entertains them thoroughly," Akshaye Widhani, CEO of Yash Raj Films, said in a statement.
With its record day one haul, "Pathaan" has exceeded the expectations of the industry experts who were banking on the action spectacle to pull out Bollywood from the trenches of the pandemic and a string of box-office duds.
The film opened on Wednesday in over 5,000 screens across the country, including big cities like Delhi and Mumbai. The movie has a five-day extended opening weekend as it released just the day before Republic Day.
Till Tuesday, "Pathaan" sold with 4.19 lakh tickets sold in advance booking reflecting 80 per cent occupancy on day one, even for early morning shows beginning at 6 am or 7 am, said industry insiders.
Buoyed by the phenomenal response to the star-studded entertainer, production banner YRF on Wednesday said it had added a post midnight 12.30 am show across the country.
Besides, 300 more screens were added due to high demand, according to trade analyst Taran Adarsh, taking the film's total screen count to 8,500 worldwide.
"Pathaan" is the fourth film in producer Aditya Chopra's ambitious spy universe, following Salman Khan's "Ek Tha Tiger" (2012) and "Tiger Zinda Hai" (2017), and "War", featuring Hrithik Roshan (2019).
The movie follows the titular spy Pathaan (Shah Rukh) who comes out of exile to stop terrorist group Outfit X, led by Jim (John), from launching a debilitating attack on India.
"Pathaan" also has a guest appearance by Salman as fellow spy Tiger.
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Congress names candidates for 8 Haryana LS seats, fields Kumari Selja, Deepender Hooda
Chandigarh (PTI): The Congress on Thursday announced candidates for eight of the nine Lok Sabha seats it is contesting in Haryana, fielding former Union minister Kumari Selja, Rajya Sabha MP Deepender Hooda and youth leader Divyanshu Budhiraja, besides two sitting MLAs.
The party has also fielded former MP Jai Prakash and leaders Satpal Brahmachari and Mahendra Pratap, according to the list released late Thursday evening.
The Congress is contesting nine of the 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana. It has not yet announced its candidate for the Gurugram constituency.
The Aam Aadmi Party, a constituent of the opposition INDIA bloc, will contest the Kurukshetra seat.
Congress general secretary and former Union minister Selja will contest from the Sirsa (reserved) seat and sitting MLAs Varun Choudhary and Rao Dan Singh from the Ambala (reserved) and the Bhiwani-Mahendragarh Lok Sabha seats, respectively.
Deepender Hooda, son of former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, will enter the fray from Rohtak. He has represented the Rohtak parliamentary constituency three times in the past.
Jai Prakash has been fielded from Hisar, the Congress' Haryana youth wing president Divanshu Budhiraja from Karnal, Satpal Brahmachari from Sonipat and Mahendra Pratap from Faridabad.
