Sultan crosses Rs 550 crores in BO collections, Kabali follows closely
Actor Salman Khan’s latest film is faring extremely well at the box office and Rajinikanth’s Kabali treading the same path.
After PK (Rs 792 crore), Bajrangi Bhaijaan (Rs 626 crore) and Bahubali: The Beginning (Rs 586.45 crore), filmmaker Ali Abbas Zafar’s Salman Khan-Anushka Sharma starrer, Sultan, has crossed the Rs 550 crore mark .
Trade analyst Taran Adarsh confirms “The figure includes overseas and domestic collections.” The film, which released on July 6, has so far earned Rs 405 crore in the domestic market and Rs 151 crore in the international market. The film’s production house, Yash Raj Films, confirmed this. The first weekend collections of the film were Rs 105.50 crore.
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However, giving stiff competition to Salman’s film is actor Rajinikanth’s film Kabali, which released on July 22. The film earned Rs 109.25 crore in the first three days of the its release, which is Rs 4 crore more than Sultan.
Though Kabali released thirteen days after Sultan, comparisons between the two films are inevitable because of the star power and the big bucks both films are raking in. However, trade analysts do not think it is a fair thing to do.
“It’s not fair to compare the two films. I think they have two very different demographics. The advantage of regional movies is that they can be dubbed into different languages, whereas Bollywood movies release only in Hindi first,” says trade analyst Omar Qureshi.
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While trade analyst Amul Mohan feels that actor Rajinikanth’s stardom is unparalleled, he says that Sultan, too, would have had a bigger craze if it was dubbed in more languages. “Rajinikanth is beyond any other actor’s popularity in Bollywood. Having said that, even Salman’s popularity is huge and he is getting there. It’s not right to compare the two films because of the difference in the reach regional cinema and Bollywood have,” says Mohan.
“Kabali has made Rs 15.4 crore alone in the Hindi dubbed version in the north. That is a big number. Can you imagine a Sultan releasing down south and doing Rs 15 crore-worth business. That would only add to the business done so far now,” he adds.
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