Box Office India Records

Pathaan has breached the £4 million mark in United Kingdom as it sits on around £4.3 million till date and there is a little more to come. This number was just unthinkable before the release of Pathaan as the biggest films were just getting over the £1 million.

It was believed within the UK market that if Shahrukh Khan delivered a good film then the records of Dhoom 3 and Bajrangi Bhaijaan should be in danger and maybe even the £3 million mark. The expectations should have been higher as films were crossing £2 million 15-20 years ago but the market was just not the same as as before.

United Kingdom has always been the main overseas market for Hindi films since the last ten years when it diminished. The circuit has a long history of Hindi releases since the 50's and it was in the mid 60's that releases became regular. Below is the evolution of the United Kingdom market for Hindi films from £100k to £4 million

£100k - Do Raaste (1970) - The first film to break the £100k as it did a share of 9 lakhs and a gross of a little over £100k in United Kingdom. The music of the film was a rage.

£250k - Purab Aur Paschim (1971) - A historic BLOCKBUSTER in UK which was a golden jubilee hit running for over 50 weeks in London. The shows were weekend shows only but this film had a show every week for 50 weeks. The share in United Kingdom was an insane 25 lakhs and the film grossed around £285k.

£500k and £1 million - The Purab Aur Paschim record was finally broken 23 years later with the release of Hum Aapke Hain Kaun (1994) which took the market to another level. The market had deteriorated due to video and it was this film that bought the audiences back again and Hindi films started to being consumed in cinemas as well rather than at home. Kum Aapke Hain Hain grossed £1.05 million in United Kingdom.

£1.5 million - After £1 million being breached it was not long that £1.5 million came along as Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995) crossed  the mark the very next year. It was the landmark film which made Shahrukh Khan a huge megastar in United Kingdom and overseas. Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge grossed £1.58 million in United Kingdom.

£2 million - This mark was hit in 2001 with Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham (2001) which was a rage and remained the biggest grosser for 9 nine years and still probably has the highest number of footfalls for a Hindi film in the modern era in United Kingdom. Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham grossed £2.5 million

£3 and £4 million - Pathaan(2023) did the job on both these benchmarks as it takes the business in United Kingdom to another level. It is the biggest blockbuster in UK since Kabhi Khush Kabhie Gham and it is only Shahrukh Khan who can break this record and even target the next benchmark which is £5 million. Pathaan will probably end up with around £4.4 million mark.

Note - There were films like Bobby (1973), Roti Kapada Aur Makaan (1974) and Dharam Veer (1977) which went close or had a similar share to Purab Aur Paschim but the grosses were lower. It was all rentals then and post the insane success of Purab Aur Pashchim recovery became faster. Dharam Veer had a record initial of £50k in just 23 shows in 5 cities driven by the blockbuster music with two Mohammad Rafi solo's becoming a rage. Even in those days it was the music which could take a film to another level in UK and its pretty much the same today.

Kranti released 40 years ago on this date and remains one of the greatest films in Hindi cinema where the audience went mad over the film from the very first show and then the film went on to create history. Kranti was about a revolutionary farmers oath to take on the British Raj told in an epic way with almost perfect storytelling for the Indian audience which struck a chord and how. It was also backed up with blockbuster music and heart wrenching emotions and all this puts it among the top ten films ever of Hindi cinema. Kranti is no doubt the biggest patriotic film ever seen in India with Gadar - Ek Prem Katha being next best.

The film released on 13th February 1981 in Mumbai, Delhi / UP, East Punjab, CP Berar, CI and Rajasthan to packed houses with a struggle to find tickets for weeks. The film then released in South a couple of weeks later while it made its entry into West Bengal and Bihar in April to an extraordinary response.

The film had a hust cast featuring Dilip Kumar, Manoj Kumar, Shashi Kapoor, Hema Malini, Shatrughan Sinha and Parveen Babi among others and was directed by Manoj Kumar who had four huge HITS to his credit but Kranti was set to go to another level compared to his earlier films.

At the time of release it was the fastest earner of all time setting first run records in practically all circuits barring Mumbai and South. It was the second highest grossing film ever behind Sholay but that is because no film could come close to the repeat run business of Sholay and nor will any film be able to. Kranti had higher business than Sholay if we count first run only.

If we look at it in terms of business today the film may well be showing a number of over 600 crore nett or even 700 crore nett. It celebrated a silver jubilee in 26 centres and even in places like Mirzapur (UP) and Jungadh (Gujarat) where jubilees were very rare. There are hardly ten films in history that have celebrated jubilees in over 25 centres.

The craze of the film was such that in places like Delhi, Rajasthan, UP and Haryana there were shops selling Kranti T shirts, jackets, vests and even underwear. The year 1981 was a big one for the industry which saw some huge BLOCKBUSTERS like Naseeb, Laawaris, Ek Duje Ke Liye, Love Story and Meri Awaaz Suno and many other HITS but Kranti stood apart and top of the pile.

The film in Delhi / UP was so huge that it released with 24 prints and within a few weeks you would except some of these prints going down into smaller centres for monetisation but even after ten weeks of release it had only hit Delhi city and 19 towns and cities of UP and still over 100 towns and cities to go which had cinemas. The collections in all major centres of UP were just refusing to drop week after week. The collections after ten weeks in places like Agra, Gorakhpur and Varanasi were stll competing with new releases. The first ten week figures in Delhi / UP are as follows. 

Week One - 15,01,254

Week Two - 14,93,362

Week Three - 14,35,710

Week Four - 14,08,561

Week Five - 12,14,008

Week Six - 12,01,502

Week Seven - 11,05,223

Week Eight - 11,39,816

Week Nine - 10,78,713

Week Ten - 10,10,027

TOTAL - 1,25,88,176 (10 weeks)

Kranti grossed 1.25 crore nett in Delhi / UP in ten weeks and then went on to do over 3 crore nett in its full run and before Hum Aapke Hain Kaun came in 1994 there were only three films in history to cross 3 crore nett in Delhi / UP and they were Sholay (1975), Kranti (1981) and Mard (1985).