'Pathaan' sets record advance booking, insiders hope for revival of cinema
Mumbai(PTI): Beating back boycott calls, Shah Rukh Khan starrer "Pathaan" is set for the biggest opening for any Hindi film with 4.19 lakh tickets sold till Tuesday and 80 per cent occupancy on day one, even for early morning shows beginning at 6 am or 7 am, say industry insiders.
The film, which releases across 5,000 screens on Wednesday, could well signal a happy 2023 for an industry grappling with crippling losses following the Covid pandemic and a string of box office duds. The ticket surge is being seen in multiplexes, single screen theatres and also in the south.
"The film is going to take a historic start at the box office with opening day collections of Rs 45 crore to Rs 50 crore. The box office revival will begin with Pathaan', especially looking at its advance booking. This is very rare. And tomorrow is a working day," trade analyst Taran Adarsh told PTI.
"This film is going to break the advance booking of KGF 2' and will do a business of Rs 45 crore to 50 crore," agreed Rajendra Singh Jyala, chief programming officer at multiplex chain INOX.
"We have 7 am shows at Inox and almost 80 per cent of it is full. The early morning shows are happening in cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Pune, Kolkata and a few others," Jyala told PTI.
The Yash Raj Films production, which marks Shah Rukh's return as a hero after 2018's "Zero", will get a five-day extended opening weekend as it releases the day before Republic Day.
The advances of "Pathaan" have exceeded all expectation, added Kamal Gianchandani, president of the Multiplex Association of India.
"It's a foregone conclusion that tomorrow's opening would be the biggest for any Hindi film," he said.
There have been early morning shows before but the excitement for "Pathaan" is unprecedented with cinema halls in various cities, including Mumbai, Delhi, Noida and Gurgaon, opening for a 6 am or a 7 am show, he said.
"It will be a record breaking opening tomorrow. It is tough to put a number. 'KGF 2' Hindi version had minted Rs 52.5 crore, this will exceed that," he estimated.
Adarsh on Monday tweeted that the film's ticket sales are around 4.19 lakh -- and counting.
"Ticket sales of Day 1 #Hindi and #Hindi dubbed films NOTE: National chains only. 1. #Baahubali2 #Hindi 4.50 lacs 2.#KGF2 #Hindi 5.15 lacs 3.#Pathaan 4. 19 lacs* (1 day pending) 4. #War 4. 10 5. #TOH 3.46 lacs," he tweeted.
According to a release by YRF, "Pathaan" is the first Shah Rukh film to open in over 100 plus countries, the highest for any YRF film so far.
"In fact, it is the widest release for an Indian film globally! Shah Rukh Khan is hands down the biggest superstar internationally and there is unparalleled demand for Pathaan' to be released across the world given the hype that the film is carrying," said Nelson D'Souza, vice president, international distribution, YRF.
"We are very bullish about Pathaan' and what it can collect from the overseas territories. It should be able to bring the cheer back in the theatrical distribution business at the start of the year."
Sanjeev Kumar Bijli, joint managing director, PVR Limited, added that there has been phenomenal advance booking at their 903 screens across India.
"This will be the first SRK film that will open at 6 am in PVR cinemas. A movie truly made for the Big Screen experience, we are seeing an increasing preference to watch this movie in our premium formats like IMAX, ICE, 4DX and P [XL]," Bijli said.
According to leading ticketing platform BookMyShow (BMS), over 10 lakh tickets have been sold for the coming days till now.
"The response across India has been phenomenal with cinephiles choosing a cinematic experience as they opt for varied formats including 2D, IMAX and 4DX across cities," Ashish Saksena, COO, Cinemas, BookMyShow, said in a statement.
It is also one of the first films from Bollywood that's leading the charts in advance booking in the south.
"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," said Saksena.
The film is enjoying bumper advance booking in single screen theatres as well.
Mumbai's popular single-screen theatres Gaiety, Galaxy and Maratha Mandir have ticket bookings of 70 to 80 per cent, said Manoj Desai, executive director of the theatres.
"For the first time, we are having morning shows starting from 9 am 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.
In more good news for the film industry, about 25 cinemas, which were shut down due to Covid, are reopening for "Pathaan" given the unprecedented buzz.
These include Kohinoor Cinema in Suratgarh, (Rajasthan), Lajwanti Talkies in Bishrampur, (Chhattisgarh) and Prabhat Talkies in Bina, (Madhya Pradesh).
The film, directed by Siddharth Anand and also featuring Deepika Padukone and John Abraham in the lead, was at the centre of a huge debate over its song "Besharam Rang". Deepika has several costume changes, including a saffron bikini, in the song. Several right-wing groups burned effigies and posters of the movie, alleging that the film hurt Hindu religious sentiments.
Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra took objection to Deepika's saffron bikini, saying it was "highly objectionable", leading to hashtags of 'boycott Pathaan' and 'ban Pathaan'. Many other politicians joined Mishra in criticising the film.
Shah Rukh took a break from movies after the lukewarm performance of "Zero". Between then and now, the actor has only made cameo appearances in R Madhavan's "Rocketry: The Nambi Effect" (Hindi version) and Ayan Mukerji's blockbuster "Brahmastra Part One: Shiva".
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Actress sexual assault: Court says Prosecution 'miserably' failed to prove conspiracy against Dileep
Kochi (PTI): The prosecution had "miserably" failed to prove the conspiracy charge against Dileep in the sensational 2017 actress sexual assault case, a local court has observed while citing inconsistencies and lack of sufficient evidence against the Malayalam star.
The full judgement of Ernakulam District and Principal Sessions Court Judge Honey M Varghese was released late on Friday, and has revealed the judge also pointing out at unsustainable arguments put forth by the prosecution.
"The prosecution miserably failed to prove the conspiracy between accused No.1 (Pulsar Suni) and accused No.8 (Dileep) in executing the offence against the victim," the court held.
It examined in detail, the prosecution's allegation that Dileep had hired the prime accused to sexually assault the survivor and record visuals, including close-up footage of a gold ring she was wearing, to establish her identity.
On page 1130 of the judgment, under paragraph 703, the court framed the issue as whether the prosecution's contention that NS Sunil (Pulsar Suni) recorded visuals of the gold ring worn by the victim at the time of the occurrence, so as to clearly disclose her identity, was sustainable.
The prosecution contended Dileep and Suni had planned the recording so that the actress' identity would be unmistakable, with the video of the gold ring intended to convince Dileep that the visuals were genuine.
However, the court noted that this contention was not stated in the first charge sheet and was introduced only in the second one.
As part of this claim, a gold ring was seized after the victim produced it before the police.
The court observed that multiple statements of the victim were recorded from February 18, 2017, following the incident, and that she first raised allegations against Dileep only on June 3, 2017.
Even on that day, nothing was mentioned about filming of the ring as claimed by the prosecution, the court said.
The prosecution failed to explain why the victim did not disclose this fact at the earliest available opportunities.
It further noted that although the victim had viewed the sexual assault visuals twice, she did not mention any specific recording of the gold ring on those occasions, which remained unexplained.
The court also examined the approvers' statements.
One approver told the magistrate that Dileep had instructed Pulsar Suni to record the victim's wedding ring.
The court observed that no such wedding ring was available with her at that time.
During the trial, the approver changed his version, the court said.
The Special Public Prosecutor put a leading question to the approver on whether Dileep had instructed the recording of the ring, after which he deposed that the instruction was to record it to prove the victim's identity.
The court observed that the approver changed his account to corroborate the victim's evidence.
When the same question was put to another approver, he repeated the claim during the trial but admitted he had never stated this fact before the investigating officer.
The court noted that the second approver even went to the extent of claiming Dileep had instructed the execution of the crime as the victim's engagement was over.
This showed that the evidence of the second approver regarding the shooting of the ring was untrue, as her engagement had taken place after the crime.
The court further observed that the visuals themselves clearly revealed the victim's identity and that there was no need to capture images of the ring to establish identity.
In paragraph 887, the court examined the alleged motive behind the crime and noted that in the first charge sheet, the prosecution had claimed that accused persons 1 to 6 had kidnapped the victim with the common intention of capturing nude visuals to extort money by threatening to circulate them and there was no mention about Dileep's role in it.
The court also rejected the prosecution's claim that the accused had been planning the assault on Dileep's instructions since 2013, noting that the allegation was not supported by reliable evidence.
It similarly ruled out the claim that Suni attempted to sexually assault the victim in Goa in January 2017, stating that witness statements showed no such misconduct when he served as the driver of the vehicle used by the actress there.
The court also discussed various controversies that followed Dileep's arrest and the evidence relied upon by the prosecution, ultimately finding that the case had not been proved.
Pronouning its verdict on the sensational case on December 8, the court acquitted Dileep and three others.
Later, the court sentenced six accused, including the prime accused Suni, to 20 years' rigorous imprisonment.
The assault on the multilingual actress, after the accused allegedly forced their way into her car and held it under their control for two hours on February 17, 2017, had shocked Kerala.
Pulsar Suni sexually assaulted the actress and video recorded the act with the help of the other convicted persons in the moving car.
