'Kabali' vs 'Sultan': Who won the first weekend box office battle?

Last year, it was Salman Khan's Bajrangi Bhaijaan going head to head with SS Rajamouli's Baahubali. This year, his Sultan released just weeks ahead of Rajinikanth's magnum opus Kabali. 

The release of Kabali was postponed by a week to avoid the clash with Sultan at the box office. But now, the film has set cash registers ablaze with its brilliant streak. Has it managed to thump Sultan?

Here's the lowdown!

Nett mein Kabali:

Salman's Sultan released on July 6, a day before Eid and the film raked in around Rs 36.54 crore on its first day. With a spike in its collections in the next two days, the film recorded a massive 3-day total of Rs 105.50 crore nett, which is the highest ever for any Hindi film. Considering all the versions of Kabali, the film earned Rs 109.25 crore in its opening weekend of 3 days. Now that is Rs 4 crore more than Sultan. But then, Kabali released in three different languages- Tamil, Telugu and Hindi. The Hindi version could earn only Rs 13.25 crore in the first three days. But the film raked in a whopping Rs 48 crore in Tamil Nadu, Rs 20.25 crore in Andhra Pradesh, Rs 16.50 crore in Mysore/Karnataka and Rs 8.50 crore in Kerala. The Tamil and Teleugu version in other parts of India earned Rs 2.75 crore. 

Gross liya toh Sultan:

Although Kabali earned Rs 4 crore more than Sultan when it comes to nett figures, if you consider the gross dynamics, the situation becomes completely different. Because Kabali has been declared tax free in Tamil Nadu and the tax in other South circuits is relatively lower than most Hindi film circuits, the gross figures of Kabali is much lesser than YRF's Sultan. 

While Kabali has triumphed in the nett collections, Sultan has raced to victory in the gross collections. 

(Source for figures: boxofficeindia.com)