Shah Rukh Khan's Jawan opens in second place at UK and Ireland box office

Jawan, an action thriller starring Shah Rukh Khan and directed by Atlee, opened in cinemas worldwide in early September 2023. In the UK and Ireland it entered the weekend box office chart in second place, behind a Hollywood release.

The result followed Pathaan, another Shah Rukh Khan film, which had also reached the upper end of the chart earlier in 2023. Together the two films showed that Hindi-language blockbusters could draw large audiences in British and Irish cinemas, especially among the South Asian diaspora, the communities with family roots in India and neighbouring countries.

Despite those strong openings, no Indian film had yet taken first place in the UK and Ireland. Second place became the effective ceiling for Indian cinema in that market, and it stayed unbroken for years. That is why Jawan's debut is often cited as a benchmark when later Indian releases are measured against the British box office.