Is Shah Rukh Khan starrer Jawan the door for Hindi cinema in South market? Trade experts analyse

Shah Rukh Khan starrer Jawan is truly one of the most anticipated movies of the year. With just one day to the release, the excitement for it is quite high. The film also boasts many big South names like Nayanthara, Vijay Sethupathi, director Atlee and composer Anirudh. All of them have a huge fan base down South, but will Jawan be the door for Hindi films in the South market? We asked some trade experts for their opinion on the same.

Shah Rukh Khan starrer Jawan appeal in South

Trade exhibitor Akshaye Rathi expects a big opening for the film in Tamil because of the appeal of the cast and crew. With so many big names from the Tamil fraternity associated, he defines Jawan as ‘red hot’ there. But when asked if it can do for Hindi films in South what Baahubali did for South films in Hindi, he has his apprehensions.

Akshaye insists, “We need to, with a much higher degree of consistency, market and release our films deeply in South India. It can’t be that before the release, the star goes there for one day of promotion and expect people to be excited for the film. You need to see it not as an accessory market but part of the core market, and go a lot more aggressive and promotion and distribution there. We saw that same thing happen for Hollywood films in India.”

He asserts that the rise of South cinema hasn’t been overnight. Many South films started airing on Set Max with dubbed Hindi versions and built a fan base first. “10 years of that made a Pushpa happen,” he says.

Film critic and trade expert Joginder Tuteja clearly says that while the buzz for Jawan is great, it’s still a long time before the South market contributes majorly to any Hindi film business. He says, “Not at all. That will be saying too much. Baahubali did 70 percent of the South collection in Hindi. I don’t see the South contributing that much in Jawan. Hindi collection will be superb, but even if 20 percent of that comes from South, it will be superb. Pathaan had just 3 percent of the Hindi business from South.”

Whether the analysis turns out to be true or not, it will be clear in the next 5 days. However Jawan still promises a storm at the box office. It is anyway boasting the highest Telugu and Tamil collection for any Hindi film through advance booking. With this trend, the sky is the limit as Jawan releases on September 7, 2023.

Also Read: Jawan day 1 box office prediction: Shah Rukh Khan starrer expected to collect over Rs 65 crores in Hindi, say trade experts