Dangal and Baahubali 2: The Conclusion have emerged as the biggest box-office giants of the Indian cinema. The two mega movies have raked in massive moolah both at the domestic as well as the international markets. While the concluding part of the Baahubali franchise has zoomed past the Rs 1200 crore mark, the sports drama is certainly not lacking behind and has neared the Rs 900 crore mark.
Following the stupendous success of Baahubali: The Beginning, there were never any doubts that the second instalment would take the box-office by storm. But the unprecedented manner in which its collections have unfolded has surprised one and all. Within the second week of its release, the film has already attained the title of Indian cinema’s biggest blockbuster.
The fact that the SS Rajamouli directed is earning over Rs 17 crore on its second Wednesday (Hindi version), is a testimony to the entire euphoria. The film, with Rs 375.35 crore in its kitty so far, is now on its way to cross Dangal (Rs 387 crore) at the Hindi box-office too and inaugurate the Rs 400 crore club, which the Aamir Khan starrer missed by an elfin margin.
Not surprisingly enough, the comparisons have commenced between the two films with several people saying that Baahubali 2 has defeated Dangal in the box-office race. Even though it’s true, it is not fair to compare the two.
The reason being (and this is without taking anything away from the Prabhas starrer) that Baahubali had already become such an enormous brand with the first edition that the excitement for its second edition transpired from the word go. Also, people waited with bated breath to find out the answer to the national question – Katappa ne Baahubali ko kyu maara?
While Dangal had no such privilege as it came out like a regular film. It did not enjoy a pre-existing buzz and created all the hype and anticipation itself. It bloomed leaps and bounds at the box-office solely on the word of mouth.
However, such masterpieces go beyond just how many crores they have made and get etched out in the memories of the audience forever, so the comparisons do not matter anyway.
Starring Prabhas, Rana Daggubati, Anushka Shetty, Ramya Krishnan, Sathyaraj, Tamannah Bhatia in lead roles and backed by Arka Mediaworks, Baahubali 2 continues to dominate the theatres.
On the other hand, Nitesh Tiwari’s Dangal starring Aamir Khan, Fatima Sana Shaikh, Sanya Malhotra, Zaira Wasim, Aparshakti Khurrana and Sakshi Tanwar is currently rewriting history at the Chinese box office, amassing a humongous Rs 148.67 crore in just 6 days.
Post Baahubali 2, Prabhas’s next outing will be an out and out action flick called Saaho (Telugu). It will be helmed by a 26-year-old director Sujeeth.
As far as Aamir is concerned, he will next star in Yash Raj Films’ Thugs of Hindostan alongside megastar Amitabh Bachchan and his Dangal girl Fatima. The film will be directed by Vijay Krishna Acharya of Dhoom 3 and Tashan fame.
