Almost 22 years after delivering a blockbuster in Gadar: Ek Prem Katha, Sunny Deol and Ameesha Patel returned with Gadar 2 and completely knocked it out of the park. The film has collected ₹228.9 crore within five days of its release and it continues to spell magic at the box office. See this, many have started wondering if it will beat the collections of Shah Rukh Khan’s blockbuster Pathaan soon, which stands at domestic collection of ₹543 crore.

Film trade analyst Komal Nahta says there are about 95 percent chances of Gadar 2 beating Pathaan, whereas film business expert Girish Johar feels it’s too early to compare a new release with a film that dominated theatres for more than two months.

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Gadar 2 can beat Pathaan: Akshaye Rathi, Komal Nahta

Komal Nahta said there are “very strong” chances of Gadar 2 beating Pathaan. On being asked about why the film continues to do well despite mixed to negative reviews, he told Hindustan Times, “I don’t think reviews matter. Reviews don’t decide whether a film will click or not. And more often than not, they definitely don’t matter for mass films. Yes, they do matter for artistic cinema or for class appealing films.

But masses are not concerned about what journalists write or what a critic writes. I think they go for it if they like it. So word of mouth is more important. The word of mouth for Gadar 2 was supremely positive, the way people burst out in cinema halls which 95 percent of the critics fail to appreciate. They are far removed from reality according to me.”

Film exhibitor Akshaye Rathi, too, echoed the same enthusiasm. Commenting on Gadar 2’s single-day half of ₹55 crore on Tuesday, he told HT, “Going by the trajectory it’s on, Gadar 2 can possibly beat not just Pathaan, but any record there is. It’s absolutely on a rampage right now. What you witnessed in cinemas on August 15 across India is absolutely historic.

All of us in the film exhibition sector, work to serve our audience and ensure that they walk out feeling joyful. And what we’ve seen on Tuesday is truly a celebration of cinemas, not just for Gadar 2, but also for OMG 2, Jailer, Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani, Oppenheimer and for all those films that are in theaters right now. It’s great to see the audience back in cinemas in unprecedented numbers.”

Declaring it a historic day, he added, “What’s happened on Independence Day is possibly the highest footfalls that have been witnessed for a film on a single day in the longest time and the highest business in terms of net collections that have ever been witnessed on a single day in the history of Indian cinema.

So truly grateful as film exhibitors and truly hopeful that this momentum can continue when we go into Ghoomer, Dream Girl 2 to Jawan and a whole lot of other films going ahead with this inertia and have audiences coming to theaters in massive numbers over and over again.”

‘Need to wait till Gadar 2’s second weekend’

Producer and film business expert Girish Johar stressed on waiting for one more weekend to be able to predict about the film’s chances of beating Pathaan. “The film has made bit over ₹225 crore in five days which is a fantastic number. Today is a partial holiday (Navroz) and there are no big releases nearby. But Pathaan had a wider screen presence. There is a sufficient gap which has to be covered. Pathaan has done around ₹500 crore and Gadar 2 has to cover ₹300 crore more to beat it. It’s too soon to compare Gadar 2’s five days with its eight weeks,” he told HT.

Explaining the reasons behind the wonderful performance of Gadar 2, he said, “At the end of the day, there is a lot of nostalgia around the film, the timing has been perfect with an Independence Day release and the audience is loving the film. Gadar 2 has an emotional connect as well, Sunny Deol is back with a bang and it’s also a family film with a dose of patriotism, that’s the reason it’s riding strong.”

“This is how a commercial film is. Pathaan wasn’t praised by the reviewers but the public loved it. Public only wants entertainment which they are getting in this film, even if Sunny Deol is breaking cars with a hammer. It’s a believable factor, this is entertainment all about…if they are enjoying it and getting worth of money,” he added.

Trade analyst Rohit Jaiswal also said there is high possibility of Gadar 2 beating Pathaan. He had tweeted Tuesday evening, “#Gadar2 has stolen the limelight of #Jawan by doing crazy numbers, high chances of it beating the lifetime India Biz of #Pathaan .. Jawan has to compete with numbers of Gadar2 next month which’ll be slightly difficult because performing at such levels is never easy back to back in the span of 30 days…. #ShahRukhKhan.”

Directed by Anil Sharma, Gadar 2 also stars Utkarsh Sharma, Manish Wadhwa, Gaurav Chopra, Simrat Kaur, Luv Sinha, Rakesh Bedi and Dolly Bindra. It released alongside Akshay Kumar’s OMG 2 on August 11.