Pathaan's box office success redefines and saves Bollywood

A superhero-level spy in one of the world's biggest film franchises, with a superstar lead actor fighting on top of trains, jumping out of planes and saving the world.

You would be excused for thinking that this was a description of Impossible mission. But instead, explained film critic Emaan Khan, Tom Cruise is no match for this star.

“He's bigger,” film critic Emaan Khan said of Shah Rukh Khan, star of the new Bollywood hit. Pathan. “Tom Cruise can’t do these dances.”

And whether you've heard of it or not, PathanThe impact is undeniable. The fourth installment of the YRF Spy Universe film franchise follows Pathaan, an exiled counterintelligence agent tasked with stopping a terrorist from releasing a biological weapon in India. And with arguably India's greatest actor at the helm, returning after a four-year hiatus, the film is breaking records left and right.

After its release in January, the day before India's Republic Day, it quickly became the biggest film in the world, even toppling James Cameron's. Avatar: The Way of Water. According to the deadlineit was the first film to exceed US$100 million at the box office without a release in China, and it was the biggest opening weekend for a Bollywood film ever in North America and a number of other regions of the world.

WATCH | Pathaan Trailer:

But even while he's riding, like now, Pathan and even the future of Bollywood was completely uncertain in recent years. After years of success both at home and abroad, Bollywood producers have suffered failure after failure during the pandemic, collectively losing around US$100 million in the first half of 2022 alone. according to the BBC.

Combined with a pressure from the Indian government to limit the pluralistic and diverse content of its films which have been one of the most attractive elements of the Bollywood industry seemed to be on the verge of disappearing. And on top of that, Khan's once-reliable star seemed to be fading, as the failure of a number of his more recent films sparked concerns: “The chatter started around 'Is that?' is he finished?'” Emaan Khan said.

But PathanThe surprising success of is beginning to change that pessimistic view, positioning Bollywood as one of the most important film industries in the world, with considerable help right here in Canada.

Beyond its global success, Pathan I have some of his biggest bumps here. According to a Cineplex press release, among the 10 cinemas with the highest rate Pathan in North America, nine in Canada.

“We have so many people coming from India and southeastern countries and it makes sense,” explained Emaan Khan. “But that said, no one expected it to be this massive.”

This experience was doubly surprising because of the way in which Pathan was marketed or rather unmarketed and the concerted effort to prevent it from gaining an audience.

First of all, Pathan had virtually no interaction with the media before its release, preventing its stars from giving interviews as is usually the case with all Bollywood productions. The plan was to create suspense and interest solely by releasing music videos related to the film itself, and to play on fans' desire for a new Khan film, a risky strategy that might have brought few people to know or care about the existence of the film.

But the biggest risk for the film was that it would join a growing list of films targeted by right-wing Hindu groups unhappy with their content.

The “shameless color” of Pathaan

In PathanIn Khan's case, the anger was mainly directed at a scene in which Khan's co-star Deepika Padukone appears in a bikini during the song. Besharam Rank which translates to “shameless color”.

As this bikini was orange, some groups, including India's ruling nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, took issue, saying it was saffron: a color associated with both Hinduism and that particular party . The BJP and others subsequently called for a boycott, while activists in India tore up and burned promotional posters and the BJP's Madhya Pradesh home minister threatened to ban the film altogether.

But instead of killing Pathan, its success, both domestically and internationally in the face of these efforts, not only proved that Bollywood could survive, but also that it could thrive.

“The film did as well outside of India as it did in India,” said Sunera Thobani, a professor of South Asian cinema at the University of British Columbia. “So the fan base is a factor, but I think, clearly, something is changing in the public mood.”

There are other changes that Pathan signals as well. Although its plot is quite similar to previous Bollywood films in its defense and failure to challenge Indian patriotism, the character of Khan himself has a special significance.

In recent years, subtle and overt Islamophobia in India has increased with anti-Muslim hate speech. enter the mainstream as attempts are made to transform India from a secular republic to a Hindu state.

Thobani explained that even though Khan is Muslim himself, his character did a lot for representation.

Pathan, she explained, is a term linked to both Afghanistan and communities on Pakistan's northwest border. For this reason, this is often linked to Muslim identity, suggesting that the character of Khan himself is also Muslim.

This tangential relationship was enough for fellow actor Kangana Ranaut to argue that the name of the film should be changed completely. But Thobani said the inclusion of a likely Muslim hero in a Bollywood film is a sign of positive change.

“Muslim men are generally portrayed as nefarious characters, either involved in terrorist plots or as violent men who beat their wives or control their daughters very strictly,” she said of most Muslim films. Bollywood.

“In this film you see a Muslim in an undeniably good role and also as a patriot.”

The Changing Tides of Bollywood

This role and the film's subsequent success could be evidence of a changing future for Bollywood. In Canada. And just watching the overwhelming crowds at Canadian cinemas, a once-diminished enthusiasm for the genre is returning in full force.

At the same time, this enthusiasm suggests that intentional efforts to derail the progressive elements of Bollywood are unlikely to work.

“When I see a Bollywood film, I take away my political lens. I just watch it from an entertainment point of view,” Rajiv Kaushik, a theatergoer, told CBC News before the screening of Pathan in Vaughan, Ontario.

“I grew up in a secular India, [and] That’s how I see the film. So I'm here to do the same thing today.”