‘Jawan’ Shah Rukh Khan Uses The South Formula To Regain His Box Office Hold ( Photo Credit – IMDb )
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The year 2023 could be easily termed as the year of Shah Rukh Khan. Yes, the Indian superstar has made a remarkable comeback and it’ll remain in the memories for years to come. After delivering an unbelievable success in the form of Pathaan, the actor is making waves at the box office with Jawan. And this consecutive success has a lot to do with South Indian commercial potboilers.
Before making a historical return on the big screen, Shah Rukh tried his hands at different things. He did a mass entertainer with Raees, a niche love story with Jab Harry Met Sejal and an unusual romantic tale in the form of Zero, in which he took the risk of playing a man with restricted height. These all failed to garner big success for the actor.
For the longest time, fans were awaiting Shah Rukh Khan’s appearance in a true blue mass entertainer, the genre which has worked wonders for the South film industries. And then, finally, we saw Pathaan coming in, which presented the actor in a never-before-seen avatar and the audience loved it. The larger-than-life persona did all the magic and we saw cash raining at the box office.
Once upon a time, Bollywood used to define what a true big-screen ‘hero’ meant and we all know how the ‘Angry Young Man’ era of Amitabh Bachchan rocked the Indian cinema. South film industries used that template very well; even today, films like Pushpa and KGF are reaping the benefits of it. Shah Rukh Khan’s Pathaan was a step in that direction, but Jawan unapologetically used that formula.
Director Atlee, known for his hardcore commercial entertainers, presented Shah Rukh Khan in his massiest avatar possible and the audience got the grade of entertainment they had tasted with epic characters like Pushpa and Rocky. First in Pathaan and now in Jawan, people are overwhelmed with SRK’s bada*ss hero giving brutal treatment to villains. They are whistling, shouting and making noise in theatres, something we never witnessed before in his films. At the box office, figures like 1000 crores are looking like a normal feat for the actor.
The verdict is clearly out, and it’s that people like Shah Rukh Khan taking the route of mass entertainers of the South and presenting himself in larger-than-life characters. A formula which guarantees no less than a blockbuster!
Note: Box office numbers are based on estimates and various sources. Numbers have not been independently verified by Koimoi.
