Border 2 vs Pathaan: How word of mouth helped Sunny Deol, Varun Dhawan film draw level with Shah Rukh Khan blockbuster

Border 2 released almost 45% lower than Pathaan at the box office, but sustained word of mouth reduced that gap to less than 10% in just two days.

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.

Border 2 and Pathaan are both patriotic films that released ahead of Republic Day.

Border 2 vs Pathaan

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 ₹55 crore net in Hindi (and ₹57 crore overall) on the day. Border 2, on the other hand, released on January 23, 2026, a Friday. The film suffered a setback due to cancelled morning shows in many parts, which hurt its opening-day collections. However, despite that, it earned ₹30 crore net. But over the next two days, it bridged the gap with Pathaan. On Sunday, January 25, Gadar 2 earned ₹54.50 crore, just 3% lower than Pathaan had managed on the same date three years prior. This was due to a strong 22% rise on Saturday, followed by an unprecedented 49% increase in collections on Sunday, largely due to increased traction in the mass pockets.

Pathaan went on to earn a single-day record of ₹70 crore on Republic Day 2023, which has remained the gold standard for the festival in India. Hrithik Roshan’s Fighter lagged way behind at ₹41 crore the following year, while Akshay Kumar’s Sky Force managed just ₹32 crore last year. Border 2 will beat both Fighter and Sky Force when the final numbers for box office come in around 10 pm tonight, but its main target will be the mark Pathaan hit three years ago. And given the word-of-mouth buzz it has, the Sunny Deol-starrer may just end up beating the SRK blockbuster.

All about Border 2

Produced by Bhushan Kumar, Krishan Kumar, J.P. Dutta, and Nidhi Dutta, Border 2 also stars Varun Dhawan, Diljit Dosanjh, Ahan Shetty, Mona Singh, Sonam Bajwa, and Anya Singh in pivotal roles. The film has earned ₹121 crore net domestically and ₹167 crore gross worldwide in its first three days.