Sultan

About the film

Sultan is a 2016 Indian Hindi-language sports drama film written and directed by Ali Abbas Zafar and produced by Aditya Chopra under Yash Raj Films. The film stars Salman Khan in the titular role and Anushka Sharma, Amit Sadh, and Randeep Hooda. It narrates the story of Sultan Ali Khan, a fictional pehlwani wrestler and former world wrestling champion from Haryana whose successful career has created a rift in his personal life.

Principal photography began in October 2015. The film's soundtrack is composed by Vishal-Shekhar with Julius Packiam providing the score. It was released worldwide on 6 July 2016, coinciding with Eid. The film received positive reviews from critics, who praised Khan's performance and Zafar's direction. Made on a budget of ₹90 crore ($13 million), it grossed ₹623.33 crore ($93 million) worldwide, becoming the tenth highest-grossing Hindi film of all-time.

Plot

Sultan Ali Khan, a middle-aged former wrestling champion, lives a lonely life in the town of Rewari, Haryana. Aakash Oberoi, the founder of Pro Takedown, a private mixed martial arts league, funded by Mr. Patel, is encouraged by his father to recruit Sultan to salvage league's popularity. After travelling to Haryana, he offers to recruit Sultan, who bluntly refuses because of his retirement from wrestling. Aakash asks Sultan's close friend Govind, who narrates how Sultan's career begun.

Sultan fell in love with Aarfa Hussain, a state-level wrestler and daughter of a local wrestling coach. She initially dislikes him, but later accepts him as a friend. When he confesses his love to her, she insults him, and tells him that she would only marry a well-trained wrestler. Determined to win her respect, Sultan dedicates himself to intense training and ultimately wins a state-level wrestling tournament, and Aarfa. They eventually get married and become famous wrestlers, representing India in various international games.

When they are both selected to compete at the Olympics, Aarfa discovers that she's pregnant. She gives up her childhood dream of winning a gold medal for India, which Sultan fulfills. To her surprise, Sultan's fame causes him to be arrogant, and he slaps a reporter at an event. He also leaves Aarfa, who is nearing her due date, to win a gold medal in Turkey. Upon his return, he learns that his newborn son had died due to severe anaemia. His son had a rare O-blood type, identical to Sultan's, depriving the child of a donor. Angered, Aarfa leaves Sultan to live with her father. Devastated, Sultan decides to raise funds to open a blood bank in his son's name.

Production

The project was earlier announced in June 2015 with a teaser released on YouTube. Khan will be seen portraying a Haryana-based wrestler in the film. To prepare for the film, Khan underwent wrestling training under the guidance of Larnell Stovall.

In October 2015, there were reports of American actor Sylvester Stallone being cast in the film as Khan's on-screen coach. However, Raja Mukerji, the Executive Producer of the film cleared that Stallone would not be starring in the film. Later, Sanjay Dutt was then rumoured to play the role of coach according to Khan's insistence.

In December 2015, Randeep Hooda was later signed to play the role of Khan's coach in the film. Amit Sadh of Kai Po Che! fame was reportedly signed for the role of young Sultan. However, in March 2016, he confirmed that he is playing the role of Khan's younger brother. MMA fighter Tyron Woodley has been signed opposite Khan with other fighters in the film.

Music

The music for Sultan is composed by Vishal–Shekhar while the lyrics are penned by Irshad Kamil. The soundtrack album was released on 31 May 2016. The album features fourteen songs, with nine of them were included with the original soundtrack. On 6 June 2016, four songs sung by Salman Khan were released after the release of the original soundtrack. The bonus track "Raula Paye Gaya," which was sung by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan was released on 30 June 2016.

Box office

The film grossed approx ₹206 crore from its first 3 days, becoming the first Indian film to do so.

It grossed around ₹328 crore from its extended 5-day opening weekend. As of 3 August 2016, the movie grossed ₹416 crore in India and $24 million overseas, becoming the fourth-highest-grossing Indian film of all time. The film's worldwide gross was ₹589.25 crore prior to its China release, including ₹421.25 crore in India and ₹168 crore overseas. As of 9 September 2018, following its China release, the film has grossed ₹623.33 crore ($93 million) worldwide.

Sultan created a new record for advance bookings.

Critical reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 69% of 16 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.9/10. The film received positive reviews from critics.

Bollywood Hungama rated the film 4.5/5. Srijana Mitra Das of The Times of India gave the film 4/5 stars. Rajeev Masand of CNN-News18 rated the film 3.5/5. Anupma Chopra of Hindustan Times rated the film 3/5. Similarly, Rohit Vats of Hindustan Times too, rated the film 3/5. Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV rated the 3/5 Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express also rated the film 3/5 stars.

Game

An official game based on this film has been released by 99Games for Android mobile phones.

Key details