New Delhi: Shah Rukh Khan and Sunny Deol are two of the most prominent figure in the Indian film industry.
Other than working together in Yash Raj’s 1993 blockbuster Darr, the superstars also share an interesting history that goes back over two decades.
It all began in 1993 when in Darr, SRK, even as an antagonist, was showered with love and appreciation by the public while Sunny, who was playing the antagonist in the film was overlooked by the masses. The rift between the two further intensified when Sunny accused Yash Chopra of sidelining him and choosing Shah Rukh as the hero of the movie.
As both Sunny and Shah Rukh never maintained a friendly relationship with each other after Darr, their fans started to draw comparisons between the two in an attempt to establish one’s supremacy over the other.
However, it’s no cakewalk to tell who amongst Sunny and King Khan has been more successful in the industry as both of them have dominated the Box office for a long time by giving several blockbusters over the years. However, when it comes to delivering the biggest movie of the year, Bollywood’s king has always prevailed over Sunny Doel and barred his movies from becoming the highest-grosser of the year not once but twice.
SRK vs Sunny in 1997 (Border vs Dil to Pagal Hai)
It all began in 1997 when Sunny Doel’s Border slammed the box office and became the biggest movie of the year for the time being by collecting ₹ 39 crore (India) at the box office. JP Dutta’s directorial, which is still talked about to this day, featured Sunny as a Soldier engaged in the battlefield during 1971’s Indo-Pakistani war.
Later, When Shah Rukh Khan came to the Big Screens with Yash Chopra’s Dil to Pagal Hai, it gave a tough challenge to Border by minting ₹35 crore at the domestic box office.
However, as everyone begin to think that Sunny’s Border will finish as the highest grosser of 1997, SRK’s romantic flick turned things around and zoomed past Border’s collection by minting ₹ 23 crores in comparison to Border’s ₹16 crore collection in the overseas markets.
The overseas triumph took SRK’s romantic drama to an impressive total of ₹58 crores and made it the biggest Bollywood movie of 1997. Sunny Deol remained in the second position as Border collected ₹54 crores worldwide.
SRK vs Sunny in 2001 (Gadar vs K3G)
Something similar happened in 2001 as well when Shah Rukh dethroned Sunny Deol’s Gadar with his movie Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham and once again reasserted the power of his global stardom.
While at the domestic box office Shah Rukh’s movie earned ₹ 55 crores and stood no match to Gadar’s mammoth collection of ₹ 77 crores, overseas box office again came as a saviour for SRK and made him triumph over Sunny for the second time.
At the international box office, K3G amassed an impressive ₹ 81 crores which was way more than the overseas business of Sunny’s Gadar (₹56 crores). The overseas box office took the total collection of KKKG to ₹ 135 crores while Gadar closely trailed in with a collection of ₹ 133 crores (worldwide).
SRK vs Sunny in 2023 (Pathan vs Gadar 2 vs Jawan)
Now, as Gadar 2’s buzz refuses to die down, fans are looking forward to seeing if Tara Singh’s return to the big screen will rewrite history and give Sunny a chance to snatch the crown from Bollywood’s king by making his film the biggest thing of 2023.
In just 8 days the movie has garnered a monumental sum of ₹ 308 croes and with the weekend right at the door, Anil Sharma’s directorial will definitely be eyeing for breaching the ₹400 crore mark on the domestic box office.
However, despite storming the box office from its very first day, Tara Singhs Gadar 2 is still far behind Shah Rukh’s Pathan in terms of box office collection and in order to outdo Pathan and become the highest-grossing film of 2023, it will still need to earn an additional ₹240 before it’s theatrical run comes to an end.
Moreover, even if Gadar 2 manages to overtake Pathan in terms of domestic collection, Shah Rukh might just repeat history once again with Jawan and force Sunny Deol to the second position one more time.
