The industry is going through a phase where two men are at the top of their form and the rest simply haven’t been able to match up. It’s Salman Khan and Aamir Khan at the top of the Bollywood ladder, there is little to choose between the two as far as the big grossers are concerned, but the rest have a lot of catching up to do.
The fall of Shah Rukh Khan (FAN) and Hrithik Roshan (Mohenjo Daro) in 2016 has further widened the gap between the Top 2 and the next 2. Akshay Kumar’s rise this year has made 2017 an exciting year for the trade and box office enthusiasts, as it promises to be a hugely important year for almost all the bankable stars in the industry.
However, to put the domination of Aamir and Salman into perceptive, Sultan and Dangal have managed to beat Mohenjo Daro in 2 days, FAN in 3 days and Akshay Kumar’s highest career-grosser in just 4 days.
The way Dangal is performing at the box office, it can only be compared to four films – Dhoom 3, Sultan, Bajrangi Bhaijaan and PK.
On this page (which will be updated everyday) we will be following and analysing the day-wise box office collections of Dangal and Bajrangi Bhaijaan.
It’s a very interesting comparison because both films released on Friday and both held on strongly on Monday. Both were high on emotions, struck a chord with the audience across the country and are showing outstanding trends.
Day 1: Bajrangi Bhaijaan released during the Ramzan (Pre-Eid) period, due to which the first day collections of the film was affected. Dangal had the advantage of Christmas or winter vacations at several schools and offices in the country. There is not much to choose between the two – Bajrangi Bhaijaan sold more tickets on Day 1, while Dangal managed to collect about 10% more. Credit should go to Aamir Khan for pulling off 30-crore opening with a less commercial looking film, without a female lead, a not-so-well-known director. Dangal was riding on Aamir’s credibility alone and that was good enough for the audience to line-up at theatres. Winner: Bajrangi Bhaijaan
Day 2: The second day was the big holiday for Eid for Bajrangi Bhaijaan, while for Dangal it was a normal Saturday with Christmas festivities continuing across the country. Again, not much to choose between the two, but Dangal did phenomenally well after a strong start. It probably has the edge too as Bajrangi Bhaijaan had a huge holiday for Eid. However, the Salman Khan film still managed to sell about 15-20% more tickets. Winner: Dangal
Day 3: The third day, which was a holiday for both Sunday and Christmas, proved to be a game-changer for Dangal. The holiday for Christmas probably gave the film an extra 5% advantage over a Sunday, but Dangal was running at over 90% occupancy at multiplexes throughout the day. Winner: Dangal
Day 4: Bajrangi Bhaijaan continued its dream-run on Monday with the Eid advantage continuing to benefit the film. The advantage was probably around 15%, which is evident from the big drop on the next day. Most multiplexes were selling tickets at weekend rates. Dangal was super-strong too. At the end of four days, Bajrangi Bhaijaan had collected 129.65 crore, while Dangal has collected 132.43 crore. Winner: Dangal
Day 5: Dangal was extraordinary on its 5th day too, beating Bajrangi Bhaijaan once again. It’s becoming clearer that the trend is set to take Dangal higher than the Salman Khan starrer. The Eid advantage had ended for Bajrangi Bhaijaan, while Dangal continues to take advantage of the extended Christmas – New Year weekend. At the end of Day 5, Dangal is ahead by Rs 4.47 crore. The lead is widening! Winner: Dangal
Day 6: The lead widened further. Dangal has now beaten Bajrangi Bhaijaan by 3.41 crore. The extraordinary run of ‘Baahubali’ was having an impact on the business of the Kabir Khan directed film, but Dangal has no competition. The difference at the end of 6 days is Rs 7.88 crore. Winner: Dangal
Day 7: Dangal has won the first week by a fair margin. It did not have extra holidays, but the lingering advantage of Christmas / Winter holidays throughout the week was there. Yet, no other non-Aamir Khan film has taken advantage of the Christmas period. Tees Maar Khan failed, while Dabangg 2 and Don 2 show poor trends after a very good opening. The first week lead for Dangal over Bajrangi Bhaijaan is Rs 12.89 crore. In fact, the 7-day collections of Dangal is more than what Bajrangi collected in 8 days. Winner: Dangal
Day 8: The lead is getting seriously big now, which also means even a total of 400 crore is not out of reach for Dangal since it has so many open competition-free weeks. The gap on the 8th day is Rs 5.79 crore, with the overall difference at the end of 8 days at a whopping Rs 18.68 crore. This makes a total of 340 crore plus a certainty, which will make Dangal the highest grosser of all time. Winner: Dangal
The graph below shows the difference and how Dangal has taken a substantial lead after the first weekend – which is widening with each passing day.
Dangal vs Bajrangi Bhaijaan
| Day | Bajrangi Bhaijaan | Dangal |
|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | 27.25 | 29.78 |
| Day 2 | 36.6 | 34.82 |
| Day 3 | 38.75 | 42.41 |
| Day 4 | 27.05 | 25.69 |
| Day 5 | 21.4 | 23.09 |
| Day 6 | 18.05 | 21.46 |
| Day 7 | 15.55 | 20.29 |
| First Week | 184.65 cr | 197.54 cr |
| Day 8 | 12.8 | 18.59 |
| Day 9 | 19.25 | 23.07 |
| Day 10 | 24.05 | 32.04 |
| Day 11 | 9.3 | 13.45 |
| Day 12 | 9.1 | 10.46 |
| Day 13 | 7.1 | 9.23 |
| Day 14 | 6.03 | 9.12 |
| Two Week | 272.28 cr | 313.50 cr |
| Day 15 | 4.11 | 6.66 |
| Day 16 | 6.8 | 10.80 |
| Day 17 | 9.07 | 14.33 |
| Day 18 | 2.75 | 4.35 |
| Day 19 | 2.63 | 4.03 |
| Day 20 | 2.45 | 3.21 |
| Day 21 | 2.25 | 2.97 |
| Three Week Total | 302.34 cr | 359.85 cr |
| Day 22 | 1.45 | 1.94 |
| Day 23 | 2.73 | 4.06 |
| Day 24 | 3.51 | 4.24 |
| Till Fourth weekend | 310.03 cr | 370.09 Cr |
| Remaining weeks | 10.45 | 14.88 |
| India Collections | 320.48 cr | 384.97 Cr |