Dangal or Sultan – Which film is going to be the highest grosser of 2016? This question was the hottest topic of debate within the trade for the last couple of weeks leading up to the release of Aamir Khan’s Dangal. There was no clear winner then, with most picking Sultan, but it’s a lot more clearer now.
Even though nothing can be said with certainty when it comes to box office collections, Dangal could surpass Sultan in just 2 short weeks.
The battle in the first week was actually won by Sultan by a fair margin, but it’s the trend or the way a big film sustains in Week 2 and 3 that decides if it can go on to break records.
At the end of 8 days, Sultan is ahead of Dangal, but the gap has reduced quite considerably:
- Day 1 – 6.76 crore (Sultan leads)
- Day 2 – 9.26 crore (Sultan leads)
- Day 3 – 1.48 (Dangal leads)
- Day 4 – 9.45 crore (Sultan leads)
- Day 5 – 24.57 crore (Sultan leads)
- Day 6 – 18.65 crore (Sultan leads)
- Day 7 – 11.28 crore (Sultan leads)
- Day 8 – 3.51 crore (Sultan leads)
Only on one day (3rd day), Dangal has held the lead but Sultan also had an extended weekend with two partial holidays and one big holiday for Sunday. On the other day, Dangal has had just one major holiday (Sunday) with the extra advantage of winter / Christmas vacations.
Day 9 onwards, it’s expected to be Dangal’s show all the way through. The lead that Sultan holds is slender and Dangal will lead by a huge margin by the end of this weekend.
It’s been Aamir and Salman’s show for the last 9 years and 2016 will be no different. The last time someone else topped the year was Shah Rukh Khan with Om Shanti Om in 2007.
Aamir is likely to take 2016, which will mean Salman’s career ‘highest grosser of the year’ number remains at 9, while Aamir will retain the 2nd spot topping a calendar year for the 7th time. Shah Rukh Khan is at the third position with 5 of his films emerging as the highest grosser of the year.
| Day | Sultan | Dangal |
|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | 36.54 | 29.78 |
| Day 2 | 37.32 | 34.82 |
| Day 3 | 31.67 | 42.41 |
| Day 4 | 36.62 | 25.69 |
| Day 5 | 38.21 | 23.09 |
| Day 6 | 15.54 | 21.46 |
| Day 7 | 12.92 | 20.29 |
| First Week | 208.82 cr | 197.54 cr |
| Day 8 | 10.82 | 18.59 |
| Day 9 | 9.52 | 23.07 |
| Day 10 | 7.43 | 32.04 |
| Day 11 | 11.46 | 13.45 |
| Day 12 | 15.18 | 10.46 |
| Day 13 | 4.08 | 9.23 |
| Day 14 | 3.72 | 9.12 |
| Two Week | 271.03 cr | 313.50 cr |
| Day 15 | 3.42 | 6.66 |
| Day 16 | 3.51 | 10.80 |
| Day 17 | 2.14 | 14.33 |
| Day 18 | 3.81 | 4.35 |
| Day 19 | 5.14 | 4.03 |
| Day 20 | 1.3 | 3.21 |
| Day 21 | 1.25 | 2.97 |
| Week 3 Total | 291.6 cr | 359.85 cr |
| Day 22 | 1.15 | 1.94 |
| Day 23 | 1.05 | 4.06 |
| Day 24 | 0.57 | 4.24 |
| Day 25 | 0.98 | 1.37 |
| Day 26 | 1.51 | 1.27 |
| Day 27 | 0.34 | 1.16 |
| Day 28 | 0.36 | 1.04 |
| Week 4 Total | 297.56 cr | 374.93 cr |
| Day 29 | 0.34 | 1.19 |
| Day 30 | 0.33 | 2.10 |
| Day 31 | 0.24 | 2.83 |
| Day 32 | 0.49 | 0.94 |
| Day 33 | 0.78 | 1.01 |
| Day 34 | 0.16 | 0.24 |
| Day 35 | 0.16 | 0.54 |
| Week 5 Total | 300.06 | 383.78 |
| Remaining weeks | 1.00 | 1.19 |
| India Collections | 301.06 cr | 384.97 cr |