Bollywood asianculturevulture vibes: Big in numbers as megastars Shah Rukh Khan and Prabhas look likely to go head-to-head…

As Shah Rukh Khan brings huge cheer to Bollywood for the second time in the year, here’s what else is making a splash at the box office – from our correspondent in Mumbai with his regular monthly lowdown on what’s happening in the Indian city of dreams…

By Rodrigues C

IT’S FESTIVAL time and our city is decked up for back to back seasonal treats.

The Ganpati festivities in the city have just wound up this Thursday (September 28), and soon it will be Navratri (October 15-24) and then Diwali (Sunday November 12).

As for Bollywood, it’s fireworks time already.

After Sunny Deol’s ‘Gadar 2’ and Karan Johar’s ‘Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahani’, it’s now the turn of Shah Rukh Khan’s ‘Jawan’ to light up the box office. And no one expected what the actioner has delivered in terms of numbers so far.

Released on September 7, ‘Jawan’ collected an impressive £7.5 million in all languages on day one.

Its first week gross was £38m. So far, it’s minted £58.7m at the domestic box office, breaking the all-time record of ‘Gadar 2’, which had generated £52.4m in India.

SRK is aiming at a figure of ₹600 crore (about £60m) for ‘Jawan’ and has come up with a “buy one get one free” offer on tickets.

At the worldwide box office, the movie has already raked in £104m, for ‘Pathaan’ the figure is £105m.

The movie is unlikely to break the £200m worldwide record set by ‘Dangal’, which collected most of its earnings in China, a market that is untouched by ‘Jawan’.

While ‘Jawan’ basks in glory, SRK’s December offering ‘Dunki’ is generating huge eyeballs now here.

The film is planned for a December 22 release in India and a day prior overseas.

As part of the promotion for the movie, its director Rajkumar Hirani and SRK had an ‘Ask SRK’ session on X on September 27, where Khan interacted with his fans.

There is also talk of the movie clashing with Prabhas’s ‘Salaar Part 1: Ceasefire’, which will affect the trajectory of both movies at the box office according to film industry experts. Prabhas first came to prominence in ‘Baahubhali: The Beginning’ (2015) by auteur SS Rajamouli. There are also some who believe that since Prabhas has delivered back to back flops in the form of ‘Radhe Shyam’ (2022) and ‘Adipurush’ this year, he is currently no match for SRK, who is on a roll. But the fact that ‘Salaar’ is directed by Prashanth Neel of ‘KGF: Chapter 1’ fame will surely bring in some positivity at the film’s box office numbers.

In 2018 SRK’s ‘Zero’ had clashed with ‘KGF: Chapter 1’ during Christmas and failed miserably.

On September 27, Salman Khan launched online a teaser of his much anticipated movie ‘Tiger 3’. Titled ‘Tiger ka message’ the one-minute 46-second clip was a precursor to the official trailer launch of the movie.

The caption of the teaser read ‘Jab tak Tiger mara nahin, tab tak Tiger haara nahin’ (“Tiger is not defeated until he is dead”).

The teaser starts with a message from Avinash Singh Rathore aka Tiger where he talks about how he is labelled as a traitor after serving India for 20 years.

He then adds that he wants the people of the country to decide how they want to introduce Tiger to his son.

Soon after, the hashtag #TigerKaMessage, which is a dialogue from the film, started trending on X along with Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif, who also features in the film.

A day later, on September 28, Ranbir Kapoor launched the teaser of his movie ‘Animal’. The clip shows how Kapoor, a man abused by his father, goes on to become a gangster.

Interestingly, many people liked Kapoor’s look in the movie more than that of Salman Khan in ‘Tiger 3’.

The truth will be out when ‘Tiger 3’ and ‘Animal’ hit theatres on November 10 and December 1 respectively.

Moving on, another movie that is making news is Kareena Kapoor Khan’s ‘Jaane Jaan’, an Indian adaptation of Japanese author Higashino Keigo’s bestselling novel, ‘The Devotion of Suspect X’.

The Sujoy Ghosh directorial, which also features Jaideep Ahlawat and Vijay Verma, was released on Netflix on September 21 and started trending the same day. So far, the movie has generated an estimated 8.1m views in India and is in the top 10 list in 52 countries.

That is indeed an achievement of sorts. It’s also a sign of how OTT (streaming as it is known more here in the UK) platforms or digital channels have grown in India at a phenomenal pace.

In fact, October 18 and 19 will see a one of a kind event called OTT India Fest, which will honour the best movies and actors who have been part of the digital sphere.

Panel discussions, masterclasses, workshops and an awards ceremony will also be part of the event.

Well, from where we stand the picture looks rosy for Bollywood. Or is it the festive glow? We wonder. Hope it stays this way till our next outing here…