Shah Rukh Khan's "Pathaan" sets new record for highest advance booking by a Bollywood movie; Surpasses Hrithik Roshan's "War"

• Image Credit: Google

• Jan 23, 2023 | Dhupali Das

The film has also done well overseas, with sources claiming that advance booking income had exceeded Rs 14 crore by Monday morning...

Digital Desk: Shah Rukh Khan's comeback film Pathaan is smashing records even before its release. Since the film's advance bookings started last Wednesday, tickets have been selling at a breakneck pace around the world. On Monday, two days before its release, the film set a new record for the highest-ever advance booking collections by a Bollywood film.

Pathaan, directed by Siddharth Anand, will hit theatres on January 25th. Pre-sales in select Indian cities began on January 18, while advance bookings started on Friday, January 20. Since then, advance booking for all five days of the film's extended opening weekend has been tremendous.

According to trade tracker Sacnilk, the film has sold over 16 lakh tickets in India, totaling Rs 46.51 crore in gross collections. This is the highest-ever advance booking total for any film, easily surpassing the Hrithik Roshan starrer War's mark of Rs 41.60 crore. Of these 46 crores, day one advance bookings alone account for Rs 21 crore, and day two (Republic Day) accounts for Rs 12 crore. Pathaan is expected to easily pass the Rs 50-crore milestone on Monday, and experts believe that it will also pass the Rs 60-crore level before the window closes on Tuesday night.

Ticketing website BookMyShow announced that it had already sold one million Pathaan tickets in advance bookings. "After a long 4-year wait, superstar Shah Rukh Khan is all set for an electrifying comeback with Pathaan jet-setting on advance sales. The much-awaited action-thriller has crossed 1 million tickets in advance sales on BookMyShow already. Advance sales for Pathaan have been opening up in phases with over 3500 screens available on the platform so far, even as a surge in demand has led select cinemas across India to open up early morning shows for the film," said Ashish Saksena, COO - Cinemas, BookMyShow.

The film has also done well overseas, with sources claiming that advance booking income had exceeded Rs 14 crore by Monday morning. Siddharth Anand's Pathaan is a spy thriller. Deepika Padukone and John Abraham also are featured in the film, which is part of the YRF Spy Universe.