India, Jan. 26 -- Border 2 was the first big release of 2026 from Bollywood. And like in the previous few years, it arrived on the new 'festive' weekend ahead of Republic Day. Although films had released ahead of Republic Day earlier as well, it was Shah Rukh Khan's Pathaan that formalised this date as a big event weekend on the release calendar. In the three years since, other releases have followed suit, but Pathaan's performance at the box office remains the benchmark. That is up until now. For Gadar 2 has almost drawn level with Pathaan through the power of word of mouth.

Pathaan released in theatres on January 25, 2023, a Wednesday. Given it was SRK's first release in over 4 years, the film rode massive hype, earning Rs.55 crore net...