Top 5 grossing Bollywood movies of 2016

2016 has been a rather cold year for the Indian box-office with a number of Bollywood films failing to make a mark. ‘Fitoor’, ‘Fan’, ‘Mohenjo Daro’, ‘Baar Baar Dekho’ and ‘Rock On 2’ – there were several big-budget films, which failed to create magic at the box-office. However, there were a few movies which took the box-office by storm. The cream of the crop, these flicks not only succeeded in achieving impressive numbers but also found a special place in the hearts of audience. With 2016 coming to an end, we take a look at Top 5 grossing films of the year.

Salman Khan’s Eid release ‘Sultan’ proudly rules the chart of the highest grossers of the year. A romantic drama with wrestling as its backdrop, the Salman Khan-Anushka Sharma starrer, which was directed by Ali Abbas Zafar, managed to rake in Rs 300.45 crore at the domestic box-office. With the huge success of ‘Sultan,’ Salman proved yet again that he was Bollywood’s most bankable star when it came to fetching moolah at the box-office.

Also read: 'Sultan' crosses Rs 300 crore mark worldwide on opening weekend

Aamir Khan’s Christmas release ‘Dangal’ is roaring at the box-office with collections of Rs 155.53 crore after a five-day run. A biopic on Indian wrestler and coach Mahavir Singh Phogat, ‘Dangal’ had opened with an astounding figure of over Rs 25 crore and made its way into the prestigious Rs 100-crore club within the first weekend. What’s interesting is that even if we take the film’s five-day collections into consideration, it is already the second biggest hit of the year. It would be interesting to see if ‘Dangal’, which is still running in theatres, will be able to dethrone ‘Sultan’ and emerge the biggest hit of the year.

Also read: Aamir Khan's 'Dangal' speeding towards the 300-crore mark

A biopic on Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the Neeraj Pandey-directed movie featured Sushant Singh Rajput in the titular role. Considering Dhoni’s immense fan following across India and the world, the hype that surrounded the film was not surprising. ‘M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story’ earned a whopping Rs 133.04 crore, thus giving Sushant his first 100-crore plus grosser. Naturally, it gave a huge boost to Sushant’s career graph and put him in the league of actors to watch out for.

Also read: M.S Dhoni biopic grosses over Rs 100 crore

Based on the true story of evacuation of Indians from Kuwait in the wake of the 1990 attack by Iraq, ‘Airlift’ is one of the most memorable films of the year. After ‘Holiday: A Soldier Is Never Off Duty,’ ‘Gabbar Is Back’ and ‘Baby,’ this was another film from Akshay Kumar that had a strong theme of patriotism. While movie critics lauded Akshay for his performance and labelled it as his best till date, the film also shone at the box-office with an impressive final figure of Rs 129 crore.

Also read- Akshay Kumar: 'Airlift' is a real story of what India did for her people

‘Rustom,’ directed by Tinu Suresh Desai, clashed at the box-office over the Independence Day weekend with Hrithik Roshan’s big ticket release ‘Mohenjo Daro’. It was anticipated that the latter will dominate the screens leaving ‘Rustom’ with little scope to make money at the ticket windows. However, the opposite happened. The Akshay Kumar starrer, which was loosely based on the 1959 Nanavati case, turned out to be a sleeper hit with collections of Rs 127.42 crore. After a few days of its release, the film was slammed for not getting the details of Navy uniform right but by then, ‘Rustom’ had already shown its power at the box-office.

Also read- Akshay Kumar on 'Rustom': This story can save marriages, it’s about forgiveness