Hindi film industry was going through a rough phase with one big film failing at the box office after another. But as the year drew to its close, megastar Salman Khan came as savior and brought a big smile on everybody’s drooping faces with his mega-budgeted blockbuster film, Tiger Zinda Hai , a sequel to his previous blockbuster, Ek Tha Tiger . The film opened with a record-setting collection of Rs. 34.10 crore and, pouncing from strength to strength, closed out its first weekend with a humongous Rs. 114.93 crores, becoming the biggest entertainer of the year.

2017 is about to end. But before we bid adieu to the year, it will be interesting to analyze that how it began with superstar Shah Rukh Khan ’s film Raees and is capping off with megastar Salman Khan ’s Tiger Zinda Hai . That Shah Rukh Khan is as big a superstar as Salman Khan is a fact no one can deny. But it won’t be an exaggeration to say that the year 2017 belonged to Salman Khan , in terms of the box-office review both stars’ films generated.

Raees , which hit screens on 25th January, clashed with Hrithik Roshan ’s Kaabil . The clash affected the box office earning of both the films. Raees had a massive budget of Rs. 127 crores. Its success was important for SRK as his last film Fan had failed to live up to the expectations of fans and critics alike. However, despite giving a healthy start to the year, Raees wrapped up its box office run at Rs. 139.21 crores, which means the film earned a little over its budget. On the other hand, by earning around Rs. 114.93 crores in its first weekend itself, the Salman Khan starrer Tiger Zinda Hai minted way more than the lifetime collection of SRK’s film within three days of its release. Now, let us compare the first-weekend collection of Tiger Zinda Hai with Raees .

It is crystal clear now that Salman Khan is the undisputed king of Bollywood, at least for the year 2017. It will be interesting to see if he manages to secure his position in 2018 as everyone will be looking at the box office performance of his film, Race 3 and Shah Rukh Khan ’s dwarf movie.