Collections go north as Shah Rukh Khan goes south

Pic/Jawan

Given that it marks his first pan-India screen outing, Shah Rukh Khan's Jawan, it was expected, would draw large crowds. Unsurprisingly, the Tamil and Telugu dubbed versions of the film have opened to approximately Rs 8 crores, making it the first Hindi film to breach this figure in this region.

Chennai-based box-office tracker Ramesh Bala says the film's appreciable collections could also be attributed to the fact that it has been helmed by Tamil director Atlee. "Atlee and his team have smartly designed the film as a proper Tamil masala outing. It caters to the south Indian market and appears like a Tamil masala film starring a Hindi movie star," he says.

That it also features south stars Nayanthara and Vijay Sethupathi has further drawn masses from this region, he adds. An industry source shares that the performance of Jawan in this market may propel male stars to look for collaborations with south filmmakers. "Atlee made a Tamil film with the biggest Bollywood star without compromising on his style. Many actors may [follow suit]."

However, calling Jawan a model film is still far-fetched, says Bala. "It is not a benchmark yet. It's an exception. We will have to see how upcoming Bollywood films perform in the region," he says.