BOLLYWOOD
Pathaan has had a strong start in advance booking in Germany, with several shows sold out weeks before release.
Shah Rukh Khan’s Pathaan is still over three weeks away from release but it has already set the box office abuzz, and that too in far away Germany. While the advance booking for the film has not yet opened in the domestic market, a German cinema chain opened advance booking in December last week, leading to several shows going housefull a full month in advance.
Screengrabs of almost fully-booked theatres screening Pathaan in Germany were shared by Shah Rukh’s fans on social media all past week, ever since the booking opened in the country. DNA verified through the website of German cinema chain CinemaxX that at least eight theatres in seven different German cities run by the chain are almost full for January 25. Several others have over half the seats sold already. A tweet by a fan gives several screenshots, with the text, “Berlin, Hamburg-Dammtor, Hamburg-Harburg, Offenbach are almost housefull.”
Advance booking in overseas has begun in Germany for #Pathaan & it's madness all over !!
— AMAAN (@amaan0409) December 28, 2022
Berlin, Hamburg-Dammtor, Hamburg-Harburg, Offenbach are almost housefull.
25th Jan 2023 - The King of Overseas is coming y'all pic.twitter.com/rYsJU30HVs
A Bollywood Hungama report quoted an industry source as saying, “Looking at the Germany response, it won’t be a surprise if theatres in other countries also decide to commence ticket sales. Not just India, the whole world is now eagerly waiting for Pathaan mania.” As per reports, the advance booking for the film in India is expected to begin in the first half of January.
Pathaan, directed by Siddharth Anand, marks Shah Rukh’s first full-length film role in over four years. He appeared in cameos in Laal Singh Chaddha and Brahmastra in 2021 but has not appeared in a lead role since Zero (2018). Pathaan also stars Deepika Padukone and John Abraham. The actor has two more releases lined up this year. After Pathaan, he will be seen in Atlee’s first Hindi film Jawan. The June release also stars Nayanthara. He will round off the year with Rajkumar Hirani’s Dunki.