An Indian Superstar Has Finally Landed At The US Box Office – Here's Why That's A Big Deal

Earlier this year, when Bollywood action hit "Pathaan" made waves at the North American box office, there was a brief firestorm of internet backlash against a description of star Shah Rukh Khan as "India's Tom Cruise." The comparison was centered around how both actors had returned to the big screen after four years with a blockbuster that breathed life back into an ailing box office: "Top Gun: Maverick" in Cruise's case, and "Pathaan" in Khan's. But fans of Shah Rukh Khan (aka "SRK," aka "the Bhaadshad of Bollywood") took issue with the comparison. Some quipped that, if anything, Tom Cruise is "America's Shah Rukh Khan." Others took the position that "Shah Rukh Khan is Shah Rukh Khan," and that he transcends comparison to any other actor.

It's true that it's hard to name an American actor comparable to SRK, especially in a time when movie stars are on the decline. And perhaps that's why this past weekend saw Khan debut a movie in the top five at the U.S. box office for the second time this year. 

Following the success of "Pathaan" at the start of the year, action thriller "Jawan" — which Khan produced through his company, Red Chillies Entertainment, as well as starring in dual roles as father-and-son vigilantes — has scored the biggest ever opening day worldwide for a Hindi film (per Deadline), grossing 129.6 crore ($15.5 million). In the U.S. and Canada, it ranked in fourth place at the box office over the weekend, grossing $7.6 million from just 87 theaters Thursday-to-Sunday. It now has a shot at becoming the highest-grossing Indian movie of all time at the North American box office. 

The way things are going, "America's Shah Rukh Khan" could be, well, Shah Rukh Khan.

"Pathaan" released in 695 North American theaters at the end of January, debuting in third place and grossing $6.8 million on its opening weekend. That's particularly impressive given that it didn't have the same pre-release hype that last year's global Indian hit, "RRR," enjoyed ahead of its own $9.5 million U.S. debut in March 2022. What's even more impressive is the fact that "Pathaan" ended up surpassing "RRR" by the end of its theatrical run in North America, grossing a total of $17.4 million from American and Canadian ticket buyers.

So, what's the secret behind the success of "Pathaan," besides having Shah Rukh Khan on the posters? Well, for starters, this action thriller isn't a standalone story, but part of the YRF Spy Universe. Yes, cinematic universes have caught on in Bollywood as well. "Pathaan" features a cameo appearance by Salman Khan as the titular protagonist of the "Tiger" movies, which kicked off the spy universe, so the cameo is kind of like Iron Man showing up in a Captain America movie during the early days of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. (MCU crossovers are a bit less exciting at this point). 

Besides the fact that Salman Khan is as big a star in Bollywood as Shah Rukh Khan, the movie also reunited SRK with actress Deepika Padukone, whose big acting breakthrough was opposite SRK in 2007's beloved musical romance "Om Shanti Om." The two have since been paired as leads in "Chennai Express" and "Happy New Year," both of which were big hits at the box office, so they seem to be a winning combination. "Pathaan" was also, as previously mentioned, SRK's big comeback after almost five years without a movie release, which pushed anticipation to its peak.

The expanding popularity of Indian films in the U.S. coincides with a growing number of Indians and people of Indian descent living in the United States. Between 2010 and 2021, the number of Indian immigrants grew from 1.78 million to 2.7 million. Using data from the 2019 U.S. Census, the Migration Policy Institute estimates the total Indian diaspora in the United States to include around 4.9 million people. Canada (which is grouped with the U.S. into the North American box office market) has similarly seen immigration from India triple since 2020, with people of Indian heritage making up around 4 percent of Canada's population.

It's also likely that the fever surrounding last year's Tollywood epic "RRR" has driven a broader audience to seek out Indian cinema, wanting more of the audacious action, melodrama, and maximalism that made that movie such a hit. It's important to note, though, that this is a cumulative effect rather than "RRR" being a unique phenomenon. To date, the highest-grossing Indian movie at the North American box office is "RRR" filmmaker S.S. Rajamouli's previous film, "Baahubali 2: The Conclusion," which released in 2017 and grossed a total of $59.3 million outside of India, with $20.7 million of that coming from the U.S. and Canada. A five-year wait for Rajamouli's next film (and a pandemic that left people craving catharsis) undoubtedly contributed to the hype for "RRR."

With that in mind, Shah Rukh Khan returning to the big screen and scoring back-to-back hits at the North American box office could be the start of a snowballing success story stateside.