Out of Sultan’s Rs 500 cr earnings, YRF & Salman may have made around Rs 170 cr

New Delhi: It already has many feathers on its success cap and yesterday the Bollywood release of Eid ‘Sultan’ added another. In just 12 days since its release on July 06, this Salman Khan starrer earned over Rs 500 crores globally. While this makes it one of the biggest blockbusters of Indian cinema has ever seen, out of this money the share of the producers and the star Salman comes out to be pretty less.

Rs 84 crores each to be precise! This means that YRF and Salman earned only 18% each of the magical figure.

For, a back-of-the-envelope calculation shows that YRF and Salman would not have made more than Rs 84 crore from the tremendous success of the movie. This is including the sales of non-theatrical rights i.e music, satellite, digital, video on demand, DVD, CD etc. 

For, a back-of-the-envelope calculation shows that YRF and Salman would not have made more than Rs 84 crore from the tremendous success of the movie. This is including the sales of non-theatrical rights i.e music, satellite, digital, video on demand, DVD, CD etc.  

Let’s break the figure to make for a better understanding.

The calculation:

Of the gross collection of the movie, which is Rs 500 crore, Entertainment Tax (ET) amounts to Rs 106 crore. ET goes to state’s coffer, as it is a state subject and the rates vary from one state to another. In case of exhibition in international territory, the taxes would go to the respective country.  

So, the net collection of ‘Sultan’ stands at Rs 394 crore approximately.

The distributor of the movie (YRF again in this case) generally takes around 10-20 per cent of the net collection. Given the star power of Salman Khan, the film being the mega release of the year and Yash Raj also being the producer of the movie, YRF may have charged on the higher side, i.e., 20 per cent of the earnings  of Rs 394 crore which comes to Rs 79 crore.

Now, of the Rs 79 crore that comes out as YRF’s earnings, Rs 20 crore were invested in print and advertising of the movie.

This translates into around Rs 59 crore earnings for YRF only as the distributor of the film. This does not include YRF’s earnings as the producer of the film.

It is worth a mention that the distributor of a film is also responsible for its promotion.

The total earnings of Sultan after deducting the distributor’s cut now come down to Rs 315 crore.  

Also Read: Brand ‘Bhaijaan’: As ‘Sultan’ earns Rs 500 cr worldwide, here’s why Salman never fails at the box office

Apart from the distributor, a good chunk of the collection goes to exhibitors of the movie i.e cinema hall owners. They pocket around 50 per cent of the net collection in the first week and 45 per cent in the second week, minus distributor cost and ET.

Rounding off for weeks, of the film’s nett earnings of Rs 315 crore, the exhibitors would have minted Rs 157 crore in both the weeks.

Now, the amount that Yash Raj, the producer of the movie, is left with is Rs 158 crore (Rs 315 crore minus Rs 157 crore).

After deducting the Rs 70 crore production cost incurred by YRF, the net profit would stand at around Rs 88 crore.

Industry experts peg that all the non-theatrical deals would have added Rs 20 crore to the fortune of YRF.

So, ‘Sultan’ would have earned Rs 108 crore for Yash Raj Films. Adding the earning from distribution (Rs 59 crore), the total earning of YRF stands at Rs 167 crore.  

Salman’s share in the pie:

Media reports suggest that Salman had struck a Rs 100 crore deal with YRF or 50 per cent of the total profit. This was based on the assumption that the movie would make Rs 200 crore for YRF.

Also Read: 12 days and 1 Salman Khan movie: ‘Sultan’ earns Rs 500 crore fastest of all

Taking the 50 per cent deal formula, both Salman and YRF has earned Rs 83.5 crore (half of YRF’s total earning of Rs 167 crore) from the movie, till date.

In a tenure of six months, considering that the movie went on floor in December 2016, the production house has got a 119 per cent return on their investment.

Not a bad deal after all.

But it should be noted that ‘Sultan’ is an ALL TIME BOLLYWOOD BLOCKBUSTER (ATBB) and very few movies meet this good a fate at the box office.