The collections of Sultan are closing in on Bajrangi Bhaijaan if we look at the amount collected at the ticket window. There will be a 15-16 crore nett gap in terms of nett collections but that is because there have been entertainment tax changes since the release of Bajrangi Bhaijaan and also Bajrangi Bhaijaan was tax free in Uttar Pradesh from the second week which meant its gross collections were nett collections in that state from week two onward. There was a tax change in Delhi city which was doubled from 20% to 40% on the fourth day of Bajrangi Bhaijaan but still it got in three days at the lower tax rate. There was also a tax change in Gujarat in the middle of Bajrangi Bhiajaan's run..
Bajrangi Bhaijaan did a GROSS of 422 crore and Sultan is standing at around 416.50 crore now with the finish likely to be around 420 crore. At the time of PK the taxes were also lower and it got a tax free status in Uttar Pradesh in week four which was a late but still managed to do around 2.50 crore worth of business tax free. A 322 crore nett final total for Sultan would have seen it become the highest grosser at the Indian box office of all time but it was not to be.
The tax differences can easily be seen in the nett business of the films in Delhi /UP circuit. Sultan at the moment stands at 60 crore nett while Bajrangi Bhaijaan did 70 crore nett and PK did 66 crore nett. In East Punjab which has similar tastes to Delhi UP all three films are similar at around 32-33 crore nett. This means that all three should have done similar business in Delhi /UP which is the case if we take GROSS collections with all three doing 92-95 crore but the difference in nett can be seen due to different rates of tax. Despite a 10 crore gap in nett collections the gross figures in Delhi / UP are 95 crore for Bajrangi Bhaijaan and 92 crore for Sultan with maybe a crore or bit more still to come.
The tax free status in UP also benefited Airlift earlier this year and Neerja got huge advantage as it would not have even crossed 60 crore nett if it were not for the tax advantages in so many states. The breakdown in collections of the Sultan, Bajrangi Bhaijaan and PK ara as follows. The Sultan figures are estimated on the theory thats its final business will be 300 crore nett. Sultan has paid the most entertainment tax in the history of Hindi cinema beating the amount PK paid.
Sultan
Nett Collection - 3,00,00,00,000
Entertainment Tax - 1,19,50,00,000
Gross Collections - 4,19,50,00,000
Bajrangi Bhaijaan
Nett Collection - 3,15,49,00,000
Entertainment Tax - 1,06,64,00,000
Gross Collections - 4,22,13,00,000
PK
Nett Collection - 3,37,72,00,000
Entertainment Tax - 1,11,02,00,000
Gross Collections - 4,48,74,00,000
There should be a new tax system coming into place possibly late next year when there is one tax rate across India and it will be possibly work out 50% lower for Hindi films. This will mean many records tumbling in terms of nett collections as they will form a bigger chunk of the gross collections then they do at the present moment.
http://www.boxofficeindia.com/report-details.php?articleid=2214
Anupamaa
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