Pathaan speeding towards KGF: Chapter 2’s Rs 509 cr Hindi collection

With Rs 453 crore collected in gross domestic collections within 10 days of its theatrical run, the first big original release in Hindi this year Shahrukh Khan-starrer Pathaan is well on its way to outperform 2022’s highest Hindi grosser – the Hindi-dubbed Kannada film KGF: Chapter 2. 

On Saturday, the film’s producer Yash Raj Films tweeted that the film had made Rs 729 crore in worldwide gross collections, including Rs 453 crore in India. That takes it within touching distance of KGF: Chapter 2’s gross domestic Hindi collections.  

The Yash-starrer dubbed into Hindi collected Rs 509 crore in Hindi gross domestic box office collections alone, making it the biggest Hindi film of 2022 – a year that saw south Indian films give Bollywood a run for its money. Brahmāstra, one of the top original Hindi language films that year, made Rs 273 crore, according to consultancy firm Ormax Media data.  

KGF: Chapter 2, Rajamouli-directed RRR (Rs 307 crore) and The Kashmir Files (Rs 292 crore) were the top three highest domestic grossers in Hindi last year. That is, two of the top three slots were occupied by the dubbed versions of films from South India. 

But the Khan comeback vehicle’s big-bang opening and subsequent strong showing have meant that Pathaan has already overtaken RRR’s Hindi collections. The spy thriller has come as a much-needed respite for Bollywood. At Rs 3,500 crore cumulative gross box office collection in 2022, Hindi cinema lost 11 percentage points in box-office share (44 per cent to 33 per cent) to its counterparts from south India compared to 2019. 

Besides, dubbed versions of south Indian films contributed a staggering Rs 1,138 crore or 32 per cent to the Hindi box office. Without these films, Hindi cinema would have closed the year at an even-lower total, the Ormax study pointed out. 

With gross box office collections of Rs 10,637 crore, 2022 became only the second year ever to cross Rs 10,000 crore mark at the India box office. Despite theatres being shut in many parts of India in January 2022, the year was only about Rs 300 crore behind 2019, which remains the best-grossing year at the India box office, the Ormax study said. 

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