The Rocky trace (the commercial scene tips its hat at Rocky II) is unmistakable and Zafar does try to emulate Balboa’s motto of ‘not about hard you hit but how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.’ But at almost three hours running time, no thanks to a couple of completely needless songs, a spirited but spent Sultan slogs its way to knockout.

Sultan is ultimately a tropes-laden affair, with unnecessary songs and plot contrivances.It does have its occasional charm courtesy a nice supporting turn by Anant Sharma as hero ka friend who provides the laughs and then suddenly in second half becomes Sultan’s ringside aid. But what keeps the 170-minute sports drama from being a borefest is but of course Salman Khan.

The most anticipated film of the year: Salman Khan’s Eid release, Yash Raj films and the film has been directed by Aditya Chopra himself. But what starts out to be a promising romance between sportspersons (both are wrestlers) soon dives headlong into a horribly predictable tale badly told. How you will hanker for Chak De!

Sultan doesn’t get boring. The music is engaging, the visuals are crisp and fight sequences from the second half arrest your attention while they last. They take the edge off the flat plot, yet not a whole lot.

For Salman Khan’s diehard fans, it’s a perfect family watch on a gloomy rainy day, go for it and for those who are not his fans, which is a rarity, you can wait for it to premier on TV.