Even as the King thanked the fans for love and support, Shah Rukh Khan’s spy thriller “Pathaan” has become the “highest opening weekend” grosser in the history of Hindi cinema with the earnings of Rs 542 crore in five days.

According to Yash Raj Films (YRF), in the five-day extended weekend for Republic Day, ‘Pathaan’ registered Rs 60.75 crore nett in India (Hindi – Rs 58.5 crore, all dubbed versions – Rs 2.25 crore), taking the India gross to Rs 70 crore.

The overseas gross on day five stands at Rs 42 crore, taking the total collection on its fourth day of release to Rs 112 crore gross, a PTI report from Mumbai stated.

The Siddharth Anand-directed feature, which also stars Deepika Padukone and John Abraham, has recorded Rs 207.2 crore in the overseas territories alone.

“At YRF, we are proud that ‘Pathaan’ is entertaining people across the globe, pulling people to the theatres and giving them an experience of a lifetime!” Akshaye Widhani, CEO of Yash Raj Films, said in a statement.

“The YRF Spy Universe films have also registered blockbusters every single time. So, the stakes were high with ‘Pathaan’ and we are thrilled to have delivered a film that has not only extended this feat of delivering hits but has also registered countless new records in the process. This is one for the ages for YRF and for the Indian film industry and we couldn’t be more humbled,” he added.

‘Pathaan’ is the fourth movie in producer Aditya Chopra’s ambitious spy universe, following Salman Khan’s ‘Ek Tha Tiger’ (2012) and ‘Tiger Zinda Hai’ (2017) and ‘War’, featuring Hrithik Roshan (2019).

The actioner, which is Shah Rukh’s first big screen release as a lead in over four years, had raised Rs 106 crore globally on its opening day, followed by Rs 113.6 crore on day two, Rs 90 crore on day three and Rs 116 crore on day four.

‘Pathaan’ follows the titular spy (Shah Rukh) who comes out of exile to stop terrorist group Outfit X, led by Jim (John), from launching a debilitating attack on India.

The film, which was the “widest Hindi release” of all time in India, has emerged as the “highest grosser” for Shah Rukh as well as co-stars John and Deepika, director Siddharth and YRF, the studio stated in a press release.

‘Grateful, Happy, Loved’: Though the film has smashed the box office with a Rs 500-crore-plus haul in the first five days, but there were times when “we had to call people and ask them to please let us release the film peacefully”, the actor told members of the media in Mumbai on Monday, as per a PTI report.

Prior to the film’s release, some groups were up in arms against the colour of lead actress Deepika Padukone’s bikini in the song ‘Besharam Rang’, while another group objected to the use of the name Pathaan.

Shah Rukh said on Monday that “film-making and film-watching was an experience of love” and that he was grateful for the audience and the media for supporting the film.

“… in spite of the fact that there might have been things that could have curtailed the happy release of the film,” he added.

He thanked “all the people” who helped them release the film, while Deepika said: “I don’t think we set out to break records, we set out to make a film with love and right intentions…”

Director Siddharth Anand said of Shah Rukh: “When we made the film, I realised that directing Shah Rukh Khan is a responsibility. He is like clay. Whatever you say, he’ll do it without any loss of faith. Through that I realised if by any chance a Shah Rukh Khan film doesn’t do well, it is because of the director not him.”

He also replied with a hopeful “Insha Allah” to demands from the audience that he make a sequel to the hit spy thriller, ‘Pathaan 2’.