═» SULTAN «═ Salman Khan - Anushka - Ali Abbas Zafar - Excellent !Crosses 300Cr NETT !!!

#Sultan : 2nd Saturday night shows are EXTRAORDINARY Everywhere !!! @BeingSalmanKhan @yrf
GOOD NUMBERS POURING

 

11 days 65 lakhs from kochi multis

 

Sultan is Salman Khan's 7th Eid blockbuster. It would not be wrong to say that Salman owns the Eid week at the box office. Here's looking at the megastar's Eid hits.

1. Wanted (2009): The film launched Prabhudheva as a director in Hindi and also resurrected Salman's career. Before Wanted, Salman faced a slew of flops includingShaadi Kar Phas Gaya Yaar, Jaan-e-Mann, God Tussi Great Ho…Wait. It gets worse - Saawan The Love Season, Marigold An Adventure In India… Salman's career was written off before it was revived by this unlikely remake of the Telugu hit Pokiri. This is where Salman's romance with the festive season started. Leading lady: Ayesha Takia since no A-list actress was willing to do the film.

2. Dabangg (2010): Produced by Salman's brother Arbaaz, this was a script about a corrupt cop in Bihar originally written for Randeep Hooda. When director Abhinav Kashyap took it to Arbaaz, he changed the entire set-up and made the cop-hero Chulbul Pandey a Salman vehicle. By the way, what happened to Abhinav Kashyap? Leading lady: Sonakshi Sinha now doing a Salman in Akira.

3. Bodyguard (2011): By this time it was pretty much evident that Salman could do no wrong at the box office even if he starred in a film as twisted and convoluted as this. Directed by South's successful Siddiqui, Bodyguard is among Salman's worst films. But who cares! It was a blockbuster, like all his Eid films. Leading lady: Kareena Kapoor who did multiple lousy films with Salman.

4. Ek Tha Tiger (2012): And here's where Salman's association with Yash Raj Films and Kabir Khan started. Suave, cool, slick and swift, this was the ultimate espionage excursion where 'Tiger' travelled all over the world to save the world. Leading lady: Katrina Kaif whose career now needs a Tiger to save it.

5. Kick (2014): The film was to be originally directed by Shirish (Kriti) Kunder. It was Salman who coaxed his pal producer Sajid Nadiadwala to take over the directorial reins. The film was the superstar's first super-hero outing. He excelled at it. Leading lady: Jacqueline Fernandez suddenly became a star.

6. Bajrangi Bhaijaan (2015): This is where Salman ceased to be Salman Khan on screen and actually began to play a character. The story of a simpleton with a heart of gold took Salman from Delhi to Pakistan to escort a little lost Pakistani girl back to her home. Awwww! Kabir Khan pulled out all stops to create a sentimental drama that dissolved borders. Leading Lady: Kareena Kapoor Khan's first really meritorious film with Salman.

7. Sultan (2016): Wrestling with all opposition and felling all rivals to the ground with thumping dhobi-pachaad, this film tells us that Salman Khan has left all competition behind. His fans can't wait for the next Eid. Can you?

 

#Sultan to cross 250 crore nett today, in 12 days
2nd fastest along with #PK
#BajrangiBhaijaan did it in 11 days
#India #BoxOffice

 

The estimated collections of #Sultan for week2 Saturday should be above ₹ 12 crores India.

 

@BeingSalmanKhan boxoffice India 1year collection is staggering 775cr
321 Bajrangi bhaijaan
208 PRDP
246 #Sultan
1200cr worldwide gross

 

Just as water tastes ultra-delicious to someone deprived of it for long, when the tongue and soul are parched to the extreme, Sultan quenches the long-overdue thirst for the quintessential, big mainstream movie we can call the 'Classic Hindi Film'. And, rightly enough, people cannot have enough of it - worldwide - with every one of them echoing and reflecting what this writer feels: give us a few Sultan - like biggies every year, and no Hollywood film can dare match us over here.

It revives our confidence that not even a big Hollywood film will dare release alongside, or just before or after Sultan! ButSultan has taken them on globally!

Ali Abbas Zafar, writer-director of the film, told us that he preferred the clear-headed films of the '70s and '80s because today's films are quite confused, as are its makers. I could not agree more. Let us analyze his statement.

Look at the megahits we have given from 2015 to 2016 alone: we have got the classic Hindi film (I will explain this much-maligned but glorious term in time) in Bajrangi Bhaijaan, Tanu Weds Manu Returns and now Sultan.

To a lesser extent, we would include Piku (with its Hrishikesh Mukherjee-like tenor with big stars as definite characters), Bajirao Mastani (with its grandeur and the hardcore Indianness of the script and the rich music), Airlift(where the patriotic emotions and use of music and a star enhanced the realistic content), Neerja (in the way this real story was dramatized and treated) and of course Baaghi, that little film that scored so high because it did all the right things on its own modest scale. That is all! 19 months, and less than ten good Classic Hindi Films.

So now, let us try and understand what the Classic Hindi Film means. To most, it is about song-and-dance, the classic Hindi film's international image and interpretation.

Broadly, we would agree, but with the strict clause of 'Conditions Apply'! The Classic Hindi Film also has (as per the needs of the story) bankable stars to pull in the audiences (now even more important when the cost of watching a film is prohibitive!), a nice dose of action and a good humour quotient. That makes for the Entertainment Quotient.

The next is the vital Emotional Quotient - that bulwark of Indian cinema that can never, ever, be junked. That is what makes a Dabangg and the Dhoom franchise super-hits while the Rocky Handsome's and their ilk fail. The emotions can be personal, romantic, for the family, for the country and for any great issue or values. This quotient has to be strong.

Analytically, we have the Intelligence Quotient also - emphatically the least important of the three. This is Hindi Cinema¸ whose raison d'etre for existence is having a ball with family and friends. When we wish to de-stress and enjoy and get our money's worth, we do not mind this IQ hopping on to the e-bandwagon, to coin a term. But it is certainly not compulsory. We are not into cinema as an academic exercise where art and technique and all higher things should flourish at the expense of the audience, which then feels deprived of a good time. A mix of movies that are mindless and intelligent fare would ideally be perfect!

Therefore, classic Hindi cinema essentially means skilledstorytelling in a definite, universally-appealing format. And the story need not necessarily be great, new or path-breaking, though serious, offbeat subjects and vital social messages are fine if well-packaged. Just as sugar, salt or spice can be dispensed with when not needed in certain delicacies, individual elements like action, comedy, great music or dances could be skipped as needed without corrupting the essence of the Classic Hindi Film.


Variety is really the key - but value for money is compulsory.

In fact, most of the biggest blockbusters down the decades have been cases of old wine in super-innovative new bottles. So is Sultan. Ali categorically states that his film is full of clichés. He added wisely that all underdog stories have to be similar. It is the details that work or do not.Sultan too sticks to its story but incorporates almost all elements that are needed or can be worked in without disturbing the flow, sucking you into a real world that is paradoxically larger-than-life!

So the big, bold secret is - conviction, not confusion!

And so, when I went to watch Sultan, I did so with the expectation, generated from the trailer (that gave away most of the story, like trailers of pre-millennium Hindi movies always did!) that it will be a proper Hindi film. I thus knew its beginning, I knew that there was a crisis created by Sultan's success going to his head, and I knew there would be a (happy and gratifying) resolution.

I thus knew that the journey looked completely enjoyable, but that the filling in of the blanks would actually make the vital difference between loving the film and hating it!

And it did! The crisis was powerful enough to shatter a formidable character like Sultan as it was so personal. There was sufficient justification for his relationship with his beloved to break. There was the powerful and eternal message of pride coming inexorably before a fall, and that for this wrestler - and by implication every human being - the real fight was not in the ring (at work) but with the demons within. What's more, the conclusion and its sharp nuances were convincing too.

Add the incredible magnetism of the biggest hero of them all - Salman Khan - and it would have taken an exceptionally stupid or arrogant (generally these qualities run together!) filmmaker to botch things up.

Happily, however, when I repeat Sultan in the theatres (as all Classic Hindi Films need to be!), I shall thank Ali for quenching my craving for the Hindi film I have grown to love for decades. All that I wish to add as a tribute to such classic Hindi Cinema is Irshad-bhai's unforgettable line from this film - 'Jaisi tu hai waisi rehna - Jag ghoomeya thaare jaisa no koi (Remain what you have always been, for there is nothing like you in the world).'

Long live the Hindi film.