Earlier this year we saw the release of the much talked about Shah Rukh Khan starrer Pathaan. The film which featured the actor returning to the big screen after a hiatus of over four years was the talk of the town. Directed by Siddharth Anand the Yash Raj Films production also featured John Abraham and Deepika Padukone in pivotal roles alongside Neetu Kapoor. Not surprisingly, in the run up to its release, Pathaan was being touted to be one of the biggest money spinners post the pandemic. And living up to expectations the film which saw a wide release opened with a bang, with positive reviews and highly encouraging audience feedback the business of the film witnessed growth by leaps and bounds.
Interestingly, Pathaan has managed to fare well in both the domestic and overseas markets as well. While back home the film saw a staggering Rs. 534.05 cr. coming in at the box office, overseas the Shah Rukh Khan starrer drew in a whopping Rs. 396.02 cr. gross during its theatrical run. In fact, the film became a global phenomenon as audiences thronged to theatres, again and again, to make this a monstrous hit like no other, collecting over Rs. 1050.30 crores worldwide gross! In a media interaction around the release and subsequent success of Pathaan, Siddharth Anand had said, “I’m happy that Pathaan has become a game-changer for the industry. We were said to have been boycotted by people. I’m happy that Pathaan has become the answer to all that talk. The industry has heard enough. I’m happy that we have let our work do the talking.”
Looking closer at the box office collections, with the stupendous success of Pathaan, Siddharth Anand is ranked second among the all-time Top directors in terms of domestic box office business. While Rohit Shetty leads the chart with a cumulative collection of Rs. 1656.86 cr. from 15 releases, Anand clinches the second spot with collections of Rs. 1183.12 cr. from just 7 releases. If that was not enough, between the two directors, Anand emerges as the one with the highest solo-grossing film with Pathaan clocking Rs. 543.05 cr. alone, with the only other director in comparison being SS Rajamouli whose Baahubali 2 – The Conclusion (Hindi) had raked in Rs. 510.99 cr.
Now, with Pathaan, following the success of his previous release War that released in 2019, not mentioning other hits like Salaam Namaste, and Bang Bang, Anand has proved his mettle in delivering content that resonates with the audience even years after its release.
