Shah Rukh Khan has outdone himself. After a record-breaking run with Pathaan in January, the Indian superstar has hit new milestones with his latest, Jawan, which scored the biggest ever opening day worldwide for a Hindi film on Thursday at 129.6 crore ($15.5M).
The Thursday debut was also the best ever in India for a Bollywood title at 90 crore ($10.9M) throughout the country, per Pink Villa which tracks numbers across the complicated reporting market. In Australia, the film was No. 1 on Thursday. We understand that IMAX, which is also running the move in the U.S., UK and Middle East, had its biggest Thursday ever in India for an Indian title.
Locally, audiences are positively bonkers for SRK’s latest action thriller which outlines the emotional journey of a man who is set to rectify the wrongs in the society.
In particular, a monologue at the end of the film has hit home when his character asks people not to vote in the name of caste or religion. He urges them to ask political candidates, “what they will do for you in the next five years. If someone in the family falls ill, what will you do for their treatment? What will you do to get me a job?”
Directed by Atlee Kumar, Jawan also stars Nayanthara, Sanjay Dutt, Vijay Sethupathi and Deepika Padukone.
In the wake of the stellar opening numbers, RRR filmmaker SS Rajamouli tweeted his excitement for SRK’s success, saying “this is the reason” he is the “baadash of the box office.”
We’ll have more to come throughout the weekend.