Dunki vs Salaar: SRK's immigrant drama or Prabhas' action opus? Who will win?

Shah Rukh Khan’s comedy drama, Dunki, based on the dangerous journey Indians embark taking the ‘donkey’ trail to so-called greener pastures abroad and Prabhas' Salaar: Part 1-Ceasefire, a crime drama based on two friends who turn enemies, seems to pitted against one another as they arrive in the theatres just a day apart from each other.

While Dunki releases on December 21, Salaar will hit the theatres on December 22.

Even as a lot of frenzy is being whipped up online over the Dunki vs Salaar clash, and over who will triumph in the end, an ugly row seems to have broken out over distribution of screens in north India. According to trade experts, there has been an unfair larger distribution of screens in the north. According to reports, Salaar, though it is dubbed in several languages, has allegedly got fewer screens than Dunki in the north.

According to latest news reports, Salaar producers have decided to withdraw the films from multiplexes like PVR, INOX and Miraj in the south since these exhibitors had not given them screens in the north.

'Salaar' streams ahead

Meanwhile, from figures released on advance ticket sales, Salaar’s high-voltage action drama seems to have steamed ahead of Rajkumar Hirani’s Dunki, which is a fictionalised take on the true heartbreaking stories of Indians yearning to migrate to the USA or Canada.

The Prashanth Neel directorial (of the highly successful KGF franchise) Salaar has already sold 6,78,292 tickets (across all languages) for its opening day. The film centred around the theme of friendship, has made an impressive ₹14.88 crore through advance bookings alone. Meanwhile, Dunki has garnered ₹10.47 crore through advance bookings.

Dunki has so far managed to sell 3,60,508 tickets for 12608 shows and has earned ₹10.26 crore.

What is going for Dunki?

Dunki has Shah Rukh Khan, who has been on a winning streak hitting the ₹1000 crore mark in both his releases this year, Pathaan and Jawan. His fans are eagerly hoping that he will strike a hat-trick with this film.

Secondly, Dunki is helmed by an accomplished director like Rajkumar Hirani, whose films like 3 Idiots, the Munnabhai franchise and Sanju, have been received extremely well at theatres. The audiences expect nothing less than a well-made film from him.

Moreover, this clash between Dunki and Salaar seems to be turning into a south vs north divide. For people in Maharashtra are most excited to watch Dunki as their share to the total earnings of the film on Day 1 stood at ₹1.81 crore,  followed by Delhi (₹ 1.55 crore) and West Bengal (₹ 1.22 crore).

So, Dunki has an edge over Salaar in non-southern states. However, a report in Mint said southern states like Tamil Nadu and Telangana too show an impressive 21 per cent and 22 per cent occupancy, with ₹30.18 lakh and ₹1.16 crore in bookings to date, which reflects the film's reach beyond its primary Hindi-speaking audience.

Trade analysts also predicted that Dunki will also appeal more to audience in metros and the multiplex going crowd.

What’s going for Salaar?

Salaar will be a typical, action-filled drama with high-pitched emotion, fight sequences and larger-than-life indestructible heroes that are selling well with Indian audiences of late. This film is also backed by Hombale Films, who have carved a niche for themselves as successful producers of biggies like KGF and even a small-budgeted film like Kantara went on to become a huge success.

Also, Prabhas, who did not make it in Bollywood, is a big name down south. So, the scales are expected to be tilted in favour of this film in the south states. And, Salaar, which is dubbed in multiple languages is expected to do well in tier 2, tier 3 and single screens.

The director Prashant Neel is the big daddy of south biggies having mastered the art of making gritty heroes, who climb out of dark recesses to triumph in life. Moreover, films made by south directors seem to be in sync with the pulse of what the audience wants and have given a string of “pan-Indian” successful films. So, Salaar may just hit the golden mark.

Overseas booking

From  overseas booking figures, Salaar seems to be ruling. In the United States, Salaar crossed $1.2 million while Dunki trailed at $267K, as reported by film trade analyst Manobala Vijayabalan on Twitter.

However, a Mint report said Dunki has outpaced Salaar in overseas advance bookings. In this frenzied battle between two biggies, the Indian film industry is however the winner.