Jawan takes control of the box-office

Jawan, the much-hyped Shah Rukh Khan-Atlee film, hit screens on Thursday. This is the first time SRK is working with a Tamil director known for films like Theri, Mersal, and Bigil, and for this reason, theatre owners in Tamil Nadu are gung-ho about prospects. “People are receiving this Hindi film with as much love as they would show a Tamil film,” says Nikilesh Surya, owner of Rohini Theatre, Chennai, who shares that the predominantly Tamil cast and crew help too.

"This is by far the biggest release for a Bollywood film in Kerala and Tamil Nadu," claims Krishnamoorthy, executive producer of Sree Gokulam Movies, who are foraying into the Tamil film industry by distributing Jawan. Together in both states, the Hindi and Tamil versions are being released in a total of 1,001 screens (718 centres). This includes around 450 centres in Tamil Nadu and 270 centres in Kerala.

While the film is being released in Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu in Tamil Nadu, it’s believed that the Tamil version will contribute the most business. “Tamil audiences have always chosen to watch dubbed versions of English and Hindi films. So, the Tamil version should make 70 per cent of all business,” says Tirupur Subramaniam, veteran film distributor and the head of Tamil Nadu's Theatre Owners Association. He further adds, “Around 450 screens have been allocated for the Tamil version of Jawan, while around 100 screens, mostly multiplexes, have been allotted for the Hindi version.”

The craze for Jawan in Kerala is no less. Linto Davis, owner of Vanitha Vineetha Theatre, Ernakulam, says that they have added more shows than planned. “The earliest show started at 6 AM, and owing to the extraordinary response, we have already charted a late-night show at 11 PM.”

Atlee's Jawan has been expected to reignite the Hindi cinema box-office, and it seems to have begun really well. “I have two theatres in Gaiety with a capacity of about 1,000 each and both are running full. In Maratha Mandir, we have 1,107 seats and it is housefull. For the weekend, advance bookings are almost full already,” says Manoj Desai, Executive Director of G7 multiplex (Gaiety Galaxy), and Maratha Mandir Cinema, Mumbai.

With Atlee at the helm of things, Tamil theatre owners are confident that Jawan will appeal to Tamil audiences as well. This is why Chennai's Mayajaal Multiplex is among the few multiplexes to allocate more shows to Tamil than Hindi. K Meenakshi Sundaram, Vice President of Mayajaal Multiplex, says, “We have allocated 30 shows in Tamil, 6 shows in Hindi and 3 shows in Telugu.”

Jawan is a litmus test for Atlee in the North and doubles up as a test for Shah Rukh Khan in the South. Even his previous industry superhit, Pathaan, didn't really make inroads in Tamil. “Pathaan only got about 135 centres because of the timing of its release. We had Thunivu and Varisu hitting screens just a couple of weeks earlier,” says Meenakshi, who is sure that Jawan will make thrice as much business as Pathaan. On the contrary, Linto says, “Pathaan was a massive success at our centres. I'm not sure if Jawan can topple it.”

Nikilesh prefers to play the waiting game. “The bookings for the first weekend are guaranteed. After that, we need to wait and watch.” Taking a calculated guess at the box office numbers, Girish Johar, producer and film business expert, says, “As per early trends, I expect Rs 100 crore worldwide collection (gross). If the film is appreciated by everyone, I expect a business of Rs 300-Rs 350 crore by the weekend.”

With early trends suggesting Rs 350 crore collection by this weekend, it'd be interesting to see the final collections of Jawan. It has cooked up quite a storm already. But will it overcome the Pathaan juggernaut?

(With inputs from Kartik Bhardwaj and Vignesh Madhu)

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