Shah Rukh Khan has beaten his own record. His new release, Jawan, has overtaken Pathaan to deliver the biggest opening ever for a Hindi-language film. According to industry tracker Sacnilk, Jawan made approximately Rs 75 crore on day one, of which Rs 65.50 crore has come from the Hindi version, with the remaining Rs 10 crore coming from the dubbed Tamil and Telugu versions. Worldwide, the film has earned Rs 129.6 crore, production house Red Chillies Entertainment shared. This makes it the best-ever Hindi opener at the global box office.
Film trade analyst Taran Adarsh shared on X, “‘JAWAN’ IS SENSATIONAL… CREATES HISTORY… #Jawan hits the ball out of the stadium, SHATTERS *ALL* PREVIOUS RECORDS… BIGGEST OPENER [#Hindi films] in #India… *Day 1* biz… #Jawan: ₹ 65.50 cr [19.09% HIGHER than #Pathaan] #Pathaan: ₹ 55 cr #KGF2 #Hindi: ₹ 53.95 cr #War: ₹ 51.60 cr #TOH: ₹ 50.75 cr Nett BOC. #India biz. #Boxoffice.”
With this Jawan has delivered the biggest single-day collection for a Hindi film, and has become the first Hindi film to make more than Rs 60 crore on opening day. Its release coinciding the Janamashtmi no doubt boosted collections, which are only expected to skyrocket over the weekend. Pathaan made Rs 57 crore on opening day, setting a new record earlier this year. But it made Rs 70 crore on day two, and ultimately finished its run with Rs 543 crore — a record that might soon be broken by Gadar 2, which currently stands at around Rs 510 crore.
Gautam Dutta, Co-CEO, PVR INOX Limited, shared that the Janmashtami holiday boosted the box office collection of Jawan. He shared in a statement, “The love and response of audiences on the first day of the release of ‘Jawan’ is overwhelming and sensational, and proves the significance and might of mass entertainers in the film industry. The Janmashtami holiday provided an additional thrust across the country. The action-packed spectacle has a truly national appeal with popular stars from the South, including Nayanthara and Vijay Sethupathi, along with an eclectic ensemble of stars, which is making the movie cater to a larger market with its Tamil and Telugu dubbed versions. With the movie also being screened in special formats like IMAX, 4DX and ICE, audiences are enjoying the larger-than-life storytelling in a more experiential manner.”
He added, “The film has released at a time when the industry is seeing its glorious days with consumers going out to cinemas in huge numbers. If the unprecedented audience response is anything to go by, we are confident that Jawan would not only be the biggest film of this year, but would end up adding immense strength to the cinema ecosystem.”
Sacnilk reported that Jawan’s opening day occupancy across India stood at 58%, with night shows delivering a 69% occupancy and morning shows reporting 54% occupancy. These figures are for the Hindi version, which is also playing in South Indian states. Jawan has been engineered as Shah Rukh’s first pan-India release, with the involvement of director Atlee and actors Nayanthara and Vijay Sethupathi. Chennai actually had the best occupancy of any city in the entire country, with 81%. Mumbai reported a 55% occupancy through the day, while the NCR region was slightly higher, with 60% occupancy. Hyderabad and Kolkata reported occupancies of 75% and 73%, respectively.
Tamil language shows of Jawan had a strong 70% occupancy in the nighttime, while IMAX presentations reported an overall occupancy of 61%. Worldwide, the film was released in around 10,000 screens. Trade analyst Ramesh Bala predicted a worldwide gross opening of more than Rs 150 crore, which would make it a first for a Hindi movie. Jawan had the best pre-sales of any Hindi film, and is now the fourth-biggest opener in the history of Indian cinema, behind RRR (Rs 223.5 crore), Baahubali 2: The Conclusion (Rs 214.5 crore) and KGF: Chapter 2 (Rs 164.5 crore).
