'Jawan' fever grips Kashmir, almost jam-packed first weekend: Theatre owner

Srinagar: With two days to go for its release, INOX Cinema theatre owner Vijay Dhar hopes "Jawan" is able to replicate the success of the last Shah Rukh Khan-starrer "Pathaan" in Srinagar.

The upcoming pan-India movie marks Shah Rukh's second theatrical offering in 2023, almost eight months after the stellar performance of "Pathaan", which emerged as one of the biggest hit Hindi films of this year.

According to the makers, "Jawan" is a high-octane action thriller that "outlines the emotional journey of a man who is set to rectify the wrongs in the society". Directed by Atlee, the film will hit the screens Thursday in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.

"We opened pre-booking two days ago. Thursday, Saturday and Sunday are completely booked. We have only kept two shows for Friday because of the prayers. 'Pathaan' did great business and we are expecting a similar response to Shah Rukh Khan's 'Jawan'," Dhar, a prominent educationist, told PTI.

While he expected "Pathaan" to do well given the fandom of Shah Rukh in the region, Dhar said he was surprised with the way Kashmiri audiences, especially young students, lapped up Hollywood film "Oppenheimer", Christopher Nolan's biopic on theoretical physicist and father of the nuclear bomb, Robert J Oppenheimer.

"We were not expecting the film to do so well. That was a real surprise for us," he recalled about the Cillian Murphy starrer.

INOX Cinema is Kashmir's first multiplex -- with three screens and a total capacity of 520 seats -- was inaugurated in the Sonawar area on September 20, 2022 and showcased "Laal Singh Chaddha" on its opening day.

Three decades ago, there were no cinema halls in the Valley, Dhar said, adding the culture of movie watching is slowly getting established.

"There were no cinema halls 30-32 years ago. There was no online booking earlier, now it has opened and many get their tickets booked, but there are people who prefer to come and buy the ticket from the ticket window," the self-proclaimed cinema lover said.

Dhar hopes theatrical releases get good response from the local audience, who would earlier travel to Jammu to watch their favourite stars on the big screen.

"Jawan" also features Vijay Sethupathi and Nayanthara as well as Deepika Padukone in a special appearance.

Sanya Malhotra, Priyamani, Girija Oak, Sanjeeta Bhattacharya, Lehar Khan, Aaliyah Qureshi, Ridhi Dogra, Sunil Grover and Mukesh Chhabra appear in the movie in key roles.

A Red Chillies Entertainment presentation, "Jawan" is produced by Gauri Khan and co-produced by Gaurav Verma.