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Sultan backdrop

Sultan

6 July 2016Hindi2h 23m
out of 10
Recommendedmost critics liked it
Monk Score · 28 scored reviews · 9 not rated

Salman at his best makes Sultan's predictable runtime worth the ride.

Verdict tier Recommended, most critics liked it, on a scale of Unfavorable, Mixed, Recommended, Exceptional.

  • Praised: Salman Khan's central performance
  • Criticised: Excessive runtime and predictable plot

Audience

User score 6.6 out of 10 from 42 ratings, Mixed
Read 7 audience reviews ↓

Not streaming in India

Critic consensus

What 36 critics are saying

Sultan receives a broadly positive but divided reception, with the majority of critics acknowledging it as a crowd-pleasing entertainer carried by Salman Khan's performance, which several reviewers describe as his best work to date. The film's emotional core, romantic chemistry between the leads, and well-choreographed action sequences are frequently cited as strengths. However, a recurring criticism across reviews is the film's near-three-hour runtime, compounded by unnecessary songs and a highly predictable, trope-laden plot that invites unfavorable comparisons to earlier sports dramas like Chak De! India. A portion of critics view the film as primarily serving Salman Khan's fanbase rather than standing as a distinguished entry in the sports drama genre.

How the 28 scores spread

9 not-rated reviews aren't plotted

Positive / mixed / negative reviews

Positive = 6.5/10 and up · negative = below 5/10

AI-generated summary of 36 critic reviews · may contain errors

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From the papers

Critic reviews (37)

Top critics first, then by score · not-rated last · updated

  1. Top critic

    IBNLive

    Film review ·

    Sultan is predictable, no two questions about it. But it's powered by a riveting central performance that makes you overlook so many of its problems.
  2. Top critic

    Hindustan Times

    Film review ·

    I' ll warn you that at 2 hours and 50 minutes, Sultan is much too long. The music by Vishal and Shekhar is lilting but there are too many song breaks. But I left the film satiated, like I had eaten too much atarich, many-flavoured feast.
  3. Top critic

    Indian Express

    Film review ·

    Sultan is an entertainer with heft. Salman Khan aces it with a full-bodied, fully-earned performance in the movie and is ably supported by rest of the cast.
  4. Top critic

    NDTV

    Film review ·

    Sultan is a Salman Khan film made solely for the superstar's fans. It has everything to please its target audience. It has megahit written all over it.
  5. Bollywood Hungama

    Film review ·

    SULTAN comes across as a paisa vasool, seeti-maar unadulterated entertainer which will be loved by classes and masses alike. At the box office, the lack of a credible opposition, perfect release timing [festival period] combined with an extended 5-day weekend will ensure that the film will break records and emerge as the biggest hit of the year so far. The film has got 'B-L-O-C-K-B-U-S-T-E-R' written all over it. Go for it!
  6. Bollywood Life

    Film review ·

    Easily Salman's best performance till date, Sultan is a solid trump card for the actor and his director Ali Abbas.
  7. DNA India

    Film review ·

    Ten minutes into the film and you're into Sultan Ali Khan's world – it's Salman's performance that makes the character so multi-dimensional. This is indeed his crowning glory as a performer. His masterstroke is a scene where Sultan is looking at his body in the mirror when it's out of shape.
  8. Mid-Day

    Film review ·

    'Sultan' is a fun watch, offering the perfect fix to lift a not-so-great day. It's about love and the will to do anything that comes with protecting it. It's also about bringing yourself back from the dead, and saying, 'I am not going anywhere' — something that Sultan and Salman Khan, the man, have in common, despite their disparate destinies. The 'public' is going to lap this one up.
  9. Sify

    Film review ·

    Staggeringly engaging, remarkably rugged and unexpectedly romantic, Sultan is every bit the comprehensive blockbuster it promised to be. Watching the accomplished storytelling and the deft characterisations in Sultan, it is hard to believe that this work comes from the director of Mere Brother Ki Dulhan and Gunday. Quite a dizzying climb!
  10. Yahoo

    Film review ·

    This is a Salman Khan film and when it manages to entertainment all along, I am ready to overlook the nuances. For Salman's fans, Eid celebrations have definitely started early because this one is a sure winner. 'Sultan' will rake in the moolah and I am sure the makers can already hear the cash registers ringing.
  11. APotpourriOfVestiges

    Film review ·

    Overall, Sultan is an out and out family entertainer that would enthrall the average viewer with its themes of love, sacrifice, success, failure, guilt and redemption. The high level of predictability and lack of plausibility of Sultan's plot may disappoint the sophisticated audiences, but the rest will savor it without any reservations. Salman Khan continues to be on a roll. Another grand box-office opening is on the cards for him.
  12. Deccan Chronicle

    Film review ·

    'Sultan' is the best feast on this Eid. The film is recommended not only to Salman Khan's fans but also to the family audience who were awaiting a family drama high on emotions, just like YRF style.
  13. India Glitz

    Film review ·

    'Sultan' is anaction filled dramatically decent film with full grandness attached to it. It lacks highly on the conviction factor due to which fails to come even close to Salman's best film 'Bajrangi Bhaijaan'.
  14. Mumbai Mirror

    Film review ·

    Writer-director Ali Abbas Zafar, whose filmography includes lacklustre films like Mere Brother Ki Dulhan and Gunday, breaks a jinx with this delightful flick. He builds the muscled monolith's narrative effectively to garner empathy for his turbulent journey.
  15. Times Of India

    Film review ·

    The trouble is its length. At nearly three hours of runtime, Sultan gets heavy and repetitive...Go watch Sultan - it's got moments of "ghana" good fun.
  16. Zee News

    Film review ·

    'Sultan' is an entertaining film, probably the best of 2016. But, don't expect it to be an entire sports drama. Salman-Anushka's Haryanvi chemistry remains the USP of this film and the action scenes will definitely make your heart pop out.  The film gets a big thumbs up from our side.  Salman's 'Sultan' will add more charm to Eid for sure.
  17. FilmiBeat

    Film review ·

    Well, it's a Salman Khan movie after all. And there is no denying that he left no stones unturned to make the film worth watching!
  18. Glamsham

    Film review ·

    What cringes SULTAN for a rational/reasonable viewer is the maker's complete surrender of novelty, and innovations in his sports drama, considering the banner YRF, which gave CHAK DE! INDIA the SRK starrer has now become a cult and is hailed as SRK's best ever. SULTAN fails to break such norms while bhai happily breaks bones in the ring to please his fans thus 'dhobi pachad-ing' (limiting) this to a highly predictable but harmless watch.
  19. Hindustan Times

    Film review ·

    Sultan has all the right ingredients of a 'masala' potboiler, and whistling and sobbing are likely to go hand-in-hand here. Don't go looking for a twist ending, though. We all know what to expect from such a film, but it's still a lot of fun to see the underdog win.

From our readers

Audience reviews (7)

42 ratings · user score 6.6

  1. 6/10

    YRF and Salman's Sultan is a film about redemption, devotion, enthusiasm, passion, love and a lesson too. Salman is Sultan Ali Khan, a dedicated wrestler from Haryana who has a passion to achieve a gold medal at the Olympics. Then he meets Aarfa(Anushka) who too is a top female wrestler of Haryana. He falls in love for her. Duo have a especial interest for wrestling. Then to woo her he starts to train himself and creates mileposts. Also he wins at the Olympics. And marries Aarfa. With a lot of increase and publicity in his stardom he witnesses a fall. What will happen? Will he rise again like before? Salman's stellar act, Anushka's rave appraisal, their very fine chemistry make the film more engaging. And also their wrestling goes good since both are able to entertain doing it. The music too is tuneful and pleasant. Mentions to 'Baby ko bass', 'Jag ghoomeya', Title track. Ali Abbas Zafar is the director. And does his job very well. 6/10 stars for this sports film. A perfect entertaining Blockbuster.

  2. 8/10

    Sultan, a film by Ali Abbas Zafar, is an awesome gift to Salman Khan fans on the occasion of Eid. Last year Eid, it was Bajrangi Bhaijan which won people's hearts with the backdrop of Indo-Pak relationship. After doing many not so good films like Ready, Kick, Jai Ho, it was a welcome break to have Salman in Bajrangi Bhaijan. And this year on Eid, Sultan releases, which is indeed an entertainer. Salman Khan's efforts to portray the character of Sultan are remarkable. There are four shades to Salman's character in this film, and Salman does complete justice, be it the innocence, arrogance, self-pity due to guilt or never-to-quit attitude. Sultan, a love story set up in the backdrop of wrestling, prompts you to win over self and also conveys that there is only person who can defeat us in the game of life and that is one's own self. Ali Abbas Zafar certainly knows the pulse of the audience, and he has ingrained the film with the right mix of emotions, action, music, fun, drama (a bit of melodrama too), and of course the star power of Salman Khan as the titular character. Although, one cannot expect any unpredictable twists and turns in the plot, Sultan is a clear-cut winner at box-office as well as in people's hearts. Akash Oberoi (Amit Sadh), a young businessman, is requesting other board members and investors of his venture Pro-Take Down to give him one more chance to revive the same. His idea of bringing mixed Martial Arts contests to India through Pro-Take Down is not working out. Two seasons of Pro-Take Down was a loss and investors and the market writes it off, but Akash is determined to move ahead for the third season. Pro-Take Down brings wrestlers, boxers to the ring. He needs investors to trust him and put the money. His father (Parikshit Sahni) asks him to get Sultan (Salman Khan) in the ring. Akash travels to a village Baroli in Rewari to get Sultan. Frames move to Rewari, where Sultan is shown to be leading a very monotonous life. He works in Water Authority. He collects donations from his colleagues on Salary-day. Akash meets him and asks him to enter into wrestling ring. Sultan turns down Akash's offer saying that he has left wrestling. Akash was also determined to have Sultan as one of his wrestler, he gets in touch with Sultan's friend Govind (Anant Sharma). It is Govind, who narrates the much-talked about love story of Sultan and Aarfa (Anushka Sharma), and their fall-out. Sultan, a fun-loving guy in 30s, runs a Mehbooba-Mehbooba cable company, loves to take up challenges to be a kite-runner. During one of such kite-running exercise, he encounters Aarfa (Anusha Sharma) with whom, it was love-at-first-sight for Sultan. Aarfa herself is a wrestler, state level winner, has done her education in Delhi, and runs a wrestling training school along with her father Barkat (Kumud Mishra) in the village. Barkat and Aarfa are very passionate of wrestling and their dream is of Aarfa winning Olympic Gold Medal. To win over Aarfa, Sultan decides to be a wrestler and reaches Barkat with the request to train him. It was not easy for Sultan to win Aarfa's heart. Sultan ends up challenging himself and ultimately does win over Aarfa. How does a non-wrestler train himself to be a world-class wrestler? How does Sultan persuade Aarfa to marry him? What happens to Aarfa's dream of winning Olympic Gold Medal? What actually transpires between Sultan and Aarfa that they are no more together? What made Sultan leave wrestling ? Once an ordinary lad, is Sultan able to handle adulations, success? Yes, it is predictable that Sultan would accept Akash's offer of Pro-Take Down so as to earn money too, but what was the real objective of Sultan ? Why he is collecting donations from his colleagues on the salary day? How does Sultan, who is now 40, able to survive the physical challenges of stamina, strength, form etc. ? What happens when Sultan is pitched against all international wrestlers, boxers in the contest ? Does Aarfa come back in Sultan's life ? How does Randeep Hooda's character Fateh Singh fit the screenplay? Watch the film to unravel the answers yourself. Salman Khan as Sultan is indeed very good. He is able to win people's hearts with his performance. Anushka as Aarfa has given a very convincing performance. Both Salman and Anushka have picked up Haryanvi accent well. Anant Sharma as Govind is very good, he is effortless in portraying his very much affable character. Kumud Mishra as Barkat and Amit Sadh as Akash Oberoi are also very good. Randeep Hooda as Fateh Singh enters the film as a coach for athletes, and his cameo is a significant part of the film. Randeep, as always, has given a great performance as a tough coach. Farrukh Jaffar as Sultan's grandmother has a small but very amiable role. Parikshit as Akash's father is also good. Music by Vishal-Shekhar is very good. The song 'Jag Ghoomeya' by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan is excellent. Background score is also very nice. One scene, I would like to specially mention, which probably missed editor's precision (although mentioning this point is a spoiler). Soon after pregnancy confirmation of Aarfa, in a dialogue with her father Barkat, she says that they would train Sultan to win Olympic Gold Medal. But immediately after that, she is shown to be training with Sultan, rather running with him. A pregnant lady doing running exercise? A scene, where Sultan breaks down looking at his out of shape physique, fights with his guilt, pain, is very beautifully portrayed. There are many scenes in Sultan, which would inspire us, evoke the fighter's attitude in our mind. Sultan inspires us to fight with our inner demons and emerge victorious, since nobody on this earth can defeat us, unless and until, we surrender, yield and accept our defeat. It also tells us that it is not necessary to always win, but it is also important to fail, since failures will lead us to appreciate success and winning. Sultan conveys that it is important to be humiliated at times to understand the importance of self-respect, prestige. It also tells us that in order to fulfill dreams, we must not move ahead so much that our people are left behind; relationships are equally important. Sultan, a love story set up in the backdrop of wrestling, inspires us to fight with our inner demons and emerge victorious. "Winners don't quit and Quitters don't win", that is what Sultan believes and makes us believe too. Although, devoid of any unpredictable twists and turns in the plot, Sultan is a clear-cut winner at box-office as well as in people's hearts.

  3. Parth ChauhanJul 2016
    10/10

    Mind blowing outsiding film. This is a fully salman khan show. Salman khan's hardwork is seen movie, all actors did phenomenon job as specially salman was outsiding. Direction is fabulous. Must watch movie. Khoon main tere miti, miti main tere khoon Uper alah, niche dharti, bich main tere junoon Aye sultan.??

  4. 6/10

    On the auspicious occasion of Eid, may Allah shower his blessings on each one of us. Apart from the celebration of breaking the fast, it's time to check out some entertainers & Bollywood expectantly displays its wares to cash in on the festive mood. As in the previous years, Eid heralds the release of a Salman flick & this time around we have his "Sultan" hitting the screens. The promos has been a mixed bag with it's trailer being well received while Salman's irresponsible statement a couple of weeks back in comparison with the stunts of the movie being aptly slammed. So will it affect the overall collections??? In recent times, several sports leagues had mushroomed in the country & the latest to join the bandwagon was the MMA event, Pro Take Down. Though launched with much fanfare, it was now on the brink of shutting down & as a last ditch effort, the entrepreneur Akash Oberoi (Amit Sadh) decides to recruit the services of yester year champion wrestler, Sultan (Salman Khan). However, Sultan who was reduced to a pale shadow of his former self refused to step back into the ring. So what had made him to walk away from the sport when he was at the peak of his powers??? Ali Abbas Zafar has been a constant name in many of the Yash Raj productions in the past decade & "Sultan" marks his third directorial venture after "Gunday" and "Mere Brother Ki Dulhan". This is surely his best among the lot though it doesnt tread on unfamiliar territory & banks on standard sports movie cliches. As one would expect, it's the oft discussed tale of the rise of the underdog who falters in between before making it back on top again. The second half kinda reminded me of "Brothers" which also dealt with MMA & focused on the conflict between siblings rather than the couple here. But what sets this apart is the fact that we get to see the character Sultan & not Salman which is kinda unheard of since Salman's persona invariably takes over the character in almost all his movies. Equally brilliant was the realistically choreographed wrestling sequences while the MMA fights could have been better. At close to 3 h, Rameshwar Bhagat could have done away with a couple of songs. The music by Vishal Shekhar was average at best however the BGM was pretty impressive. We never associate Salman for his acting skills as his movies are invariably about wholesome entertainment in true Salman style be it his comedy, characteristic dance moves or bare torso. However, that opinion will change after one watches this as he has done a wonderful job. This was a role which required him to showcase his varied emotions along with the physical exertion & he has done it with elan. Anushka gets a meaty role early on which she gleefully bites into before getting sidelined in the latter half. In addition, Randeep Hooda rocked in a brief role along with Anant Sharma as Govind, Amit Sadh & Kumud Mishra as Anushka's father. Verdict: The film has all the makings of a blockbuster & likely to set records on a regular basis with a credible probability of crossing 300 C. It doesn't boast of a script which offers anything new in terms of the story-line but one can rest assured that we will see Salman in a new avatar. In short, it's a paisa vasool entertainer!!! Rating: 3/5 Regards...Ben

  5. Shree Hari HJan 2017
    6/10

    One thing that's instantly noticeable about Sultan is the fact that Salman Khan – that most enigmatic of Bollywood thespians – doesn't play himself. Here, finally, is a fully fleshed-out role that he gets to sink his teeth into – and one that's a far cry from the grossly caricatured versions of himself that he's grown so accustomed to playing in the recent past. In Sultan, director Ali Abbas Zafar draws an enchanting portrait of a Haryanvi wrestler who, in his rather arduous quest for infinite glory, loses a piece of his soul somewhere along the way. In doing so, Zafar also tackles some very interesting themes: the gaping chasm that is the gender divide in modern rural India, the thin line that separates confidence from egotism, and the double-edged sword that love continues to represent in any courtship. As Sultan, Salman is clearly in riveting form, giving us a faulty, layered person whom we can all empathise with and relate to. The scenes in which he grapples with various opponents over the course of the film are exquisitely well-shot and pulsate with a certain raw energy that is hard to describe. The biggest strength of Sultan, however, lies in the tender, beautiful romance that its lead couple shares – it's awkward, heart wrenching and exhilarating all at the same time. Both Salman and Anushka share an electrifying chemistry – the latter does some of her best work here – and this helps elevate their on-screen relationship to unprecedented levels of loveliness. At its heart, Sultan is a very simple tale – much of it is indeed mired in the oldest of storytelling cliches – albeit one that's told with a lot of heart. For the die-hard romantic that lurks somewhere deep inside each one of us, there is beauty to be found in banality. Not unlike its muscular protagonist, this film packs quite a punch.

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