Aamir Khan's Dangal and Salman Khan's Sultan have been compared to each other ever since they were announced since the two were based on wrestling. The magnitude of the release and the superstars attached with the movie meant that both - Sultan and Dangal were clashing, even though they were releasing six months apart! Comparisons were drawn from day 1 and the box office numbers were analysed very minutely. So who has won the battle - Aamir Khan's Dangal or Salman Khan's Sultan? We analyse a few facts and figures, before giving you the final verdict...
# Advance bookings
Both Sultan and Dangal had fabulous buzz going in to the release week. People were eager to watch them even before they released and hence they booked their tickets in advance. Both the films got humongous collections through advance bookings, however it was Dangal (Rs 20 crore) which beat Sultan (Rs 18-19 crore) in this battle.
# Screen count
Sultan (4350) beat Dangal (4300) by a very small margin in this battle.
# Opening occupancy
Salman Khan's Sultan and Aamir Khan's Dangal opened tremendously at the box office. However, Salman's film (80-90 per cent) had a higher occupancy as compared to Aamir's film (60-70 per cent) on day 1.
# Reviews
The critics loved both the films. They tagged both the movies as the best film of the year and raved about all the performances in their review. In fact, Salman and Aamir even got their best reviews courtesy Sultan and Dangal respectively. ALSO READ - Aamir Khan's Dangal fails to BEAT the four-day collection of Salman Khan's Sultan
# Audience reaction
The audience welcomed both the films with open arms and kept praising them on social media. The magnitude and intensity of love for both the films has been nearly the same.
# Day 1 Collections
While both the films were equally loved, Salman Khan's Sultan (Rs 36.54 crore) got a better opening than Dangal (Rs 29.78 crore) on day 1 at the domestic box office.
# Day 2 collections
Sultan (Rs 37.32 crore) continued to lead Dangal (Rs 34.82 crore) on day 2, however the latter was already catching up.
# Day 3 collections
On day 3, Dangal (Rs 42.35 crore) finally overtook and beat Sultan (Rs 31.66 crore). ALSO READ - Aamir Khan's Dangal beats PK's opening weekend collection in overseas market but fails to surpass Salman Khan's Sultan
# Day 4 collections
Sultan again took a lead on day 4, as it collected Rs 37.10 crore as compared to Dangal's collection of Rs 25.48 crore.
# Opening weekend collections
However in the first weekend battle, Salman mauled Aamir. Sultan collected a massive Rs 180.36 crore as compared to Dangal's collection of Rs 106.95 crore.
# Lifetime collections
Sultan had collected Rs 300.45 crore in its lifetime run, thereby making it the highest grosser of 2016. However, our trade experts suggest that Dangal will easily cross PK's lifetime collection (340.80) and be the first film to touch the Rs 350 crore mark. This means Dangal will beat Sultan in the lifetime run. ALSO READ - Dangal box office collection day 4: Aamir Khan's film crosses the Rs 250 crore mark at the worldwide market
Verdict: So while Salman Khan's Sultan is currently leading , we are confident that Dangal will beat Sultan in its lifetime run. While Salman shattered the records, looks like Aamir is in the race for the long run. But does that mean Dangal is BIGGER and better than Sultan? If you ask me about it according to pure box office figures, the answer will be yes. But if you look at the story, screenplay and the mammoth response both the films generated at the theatres, we have to say that Dangal and Sultan are at the same level. In fact, everybody has a different opinion. So some will have liked Sultan, while the others may have liked Dangal. In fact, rather than comparing the two, we all should be happy of the fact that we got the opportunity to see two good films in 2016! Don't you agree?
