Shah Rukh Khan's Pathaan has crossed the National Box Office Records of the Hindi version of Baahubali 2: The Conclusion, one of the highest grossing Indian films ever. The news was tweeted by Shobu Yarlagadda, one of the producers of Baahubali 2 (Hindi), congratulating the Pathaan team. "Congratulations to @iamsrk sir, #SiddharthAnand @yrf and the entire team of #Pathaan on crossing @BaahubaliMovie 2 Hindi NBOC. Records are meant to be broken and I am happy it was none other than @iamsrk who did it," Shobu wrote, retweeting a post by film critic Taran Adarsh on four of the highest grossing Hindi films, that is, Pathaan, Baahubali 2 (Hindi), KGF 2 (Hindi), and Dangal.
On the 39th day of its release, Pathaan's total collection in the country rose to Rs 534 crore, and to Rs 1033 crore worldwide, stated an Indian Express report. Pathaan's success began soon after its release on January 25, when it created history for Hindi cinema by making Rs 55 crore in one day. Fans of Shah Rukh Khan celebrated the success, coming as it did after a controversy that saw right wingers protesting against the film even before its release.
Shah Rukh Khan, the biggest star in Bollywood, made a comeback of sorts with Pathaan, four years after his last release as male lead. Pathaan cast him as a former intelligence agent who had been out of action after a major injury, but makes a comeback when the country faces a terror threat from an unknown group led by Jim (John Abraham). Deepika Padukone played the female lead.
The controversy began over a song video from the film that showed Deepika wearing a saffron bikini. Right wingers made an issue out of it, with calls for boycott and demands to prevent the film's release coming even from politicians. However, once the film released and told a story caked in patriotism, the hue and cry over its imagined content died down and the film went on to be a huge success.