Salman Khan's 'Sultan' brings Eid cheer to Box Office

At Rs 36.5 crore collection on Day 1, it is the second-best opener for Salman Khan and Bollywood after Prem Ratan Dhan Payo

Urvi Malvania | Mumbai July 7, 2016 Last Updated at 16:30 IST

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As expected, the Salman Khan-Eid combination has worked its magic at the Box Office, as Yash Raj Films’ (YRF) Sultan collected Rs 36.5 crore on opening day — July 6. This is one of the best openings for a Salman Khan film, second only to last year’s Diwali release — Prem Ratan Dhan Payo (reported collection around Rs 40 crore).

The film, that tells the comeback story of the titular character, a wrestler, has been released in 5,000+ screens across the country, making it one of the widest releases from Bollywood ever. Expectations from the film were high since the Dabangg actor has delivered super hits on the occasion of Eid since Wanted (2009).

Suniel Wadhwa, independent distributor and box office analyst says, “Sultan had a near record single day to kick off its run at the box office with Rs 36.50 crore (net after tax). This is the second-highest grosser of all time next to Prem Ratan Dhan Payo’s Rs 40 crore and beating Salman Khan’s previous second best of 2012’s Ek Tha Tiger at Rs 32.93 crore, which was also an Eid Release.”

The advance booking for the film was the strongest seen over the past couple of years, with some territories showing 80% advance bookings on day 1. With Eid being postponed by a day, the film is expected to outdo its first day collection on Thursday, with analysts betting that the second day collection could be a massive Rs 43 to 45 crore.

The film has been made at around Rs 85 crore and is expected to net around Rs 320-340 crore in its lifetime, with the first five days accounting for Rs 150-175 crore in collections. Overseas too, the film is expected to do well and has been released in 1,000+ screens, also among the highest for a day and date release of a Bollywood film.

With this, Salman Khan has three of the best openers from Bollywood. The Khan triumvirate dominates the top five, with Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan having one film each in the list. Yash Raj Films is the most featured studio in the top five list with three films to its credits – Sultan, Ek Tha Tiger and Dhoom 3.

Top five Bollywood openers

2. Sultan (2016) – Rs 36.5 crore

3. Dhoom 3 (2013) – Rs 36.2 crore

4. Chennai Express (2013) – Rs 33.12 crore

5. Ek Tha Tiger (2012) – Rs 32.92 crore