Tag Archives: comparison

Chhaava Vs Sikandar: Bollywood Films Set New Records in 2025 Box-Office Collections

Posted on by
Reply

​In 2025, Bollywood witnessed the release of two major films—”Chhaava” and “Sikandar”—each offering unique narratives and showcasing significant performances. With a high-profile cast including Vicky Kaushal, Rashmika Mandanna, Akshaye Khanna, and Ashutosh Rana, Chhaava has set the benchmark for all upcoming Bollywood films and overwhelming the past records by several blockbusters.​

Chhaava, produced with a substantial budget of approximately ₹200 crore, stands as a grand historical spectacle, showcasing elaborate production design and intricate period settings. Right from its release, the film made a significant impact at the box office, earning ₹31 crore on its opening day. Over four weeks, it amassed a net collection of ₹525.7 crore in India, reinforcing its dominance in the domestic market. On the global stage, Chhaava achieved a remarkable ₹691 crore in worldwide earnings, surpassing the lifetime collection of Sunny Deol’s Gadar 2, which stood at ₹686 crore.

When compared with previous Bollywood blockbusters, Chhaava finds itself in esteemed company. Salman Khan’s Bajrangi Bhaijaan (2015), made on a budget of ₹90 crore, grossed ₹969 crore worldwide, while Aamir Khan’s Dangal (2016), produced with ₹70 crore, achieved an extraordinary ₹2,024 crore globally.

In the historical drama genre, Padmaavat (2018), which had a budget of ₹215 crore, collected ₹585 crore worldwide. Meanwhile, the big-budget fantasy film Brahmastra (2022), made with ₹410 crore, managed to garner ₹430 crore at the global box office. With its impressive financial success, Chhaava has secured its place among the highest-grossing Bollywood films, further solidifying Bollywood’s ability to deliver large-scale, commercially successful epics.

Sikandar

Sikandar, produced with a budget of ₹180 crore (excluding Salman Khan’s remuneration), was backed by an additional ₹20 crore allocated for promotions and advertising. Even before its theatrical release, the film secured impressive non-theatrical revenue, mitigating financial risks. The OTT rights were sold to Netflix for ₹85 crore, with a clause that could increase the deal to ₹100 crore if the box office collection crosses ₹350 crore. Additionally, the satellite rights were acquired by Zee for ₹50 crore, while Zee Music Company secured the music rights for ₹30 crore. With a total potential non-theatrical revenue of ₹180 crore, the film had already recovered a significant portion of its production cost.

Released on March 30, 2025, Sikandar received positive initial reviews, and its box office figures were highly anticipated. Comparisons with previous Bollywood action blockbusters highlight its financial standing in the industry. Tiger Zinda Hai (2017), made on a ₹210 crore budget, amassed ₹565 crore worldwide, while War (2019), with a budget of ₹170 crore, collected ₹475 crore globally. Salman Khan’s Sultan (2016), produced for ₹145 crore, outperformed both with a staggering ₹623 crore worldwide. By securing major non-theatrical deals ahead of time, Sikandar showcased a strategic financial approach, ensuring stability regardless of its box office trajectory.

Both “Chhaava” and “Sikandar” have made notable contributions to Bollywood’s 2025 cinematic landscape. “Chhaava” has achieved remarkable box office success, while “Sikandar” has leveraged non-theatrical avenues to mitigate financial risks. These strategies reflect the evolving dynamics of Bollywood’s film production and distribution in a competitive market.

Trump Down With Coronvirus: Surprising Similarities with Spanish Flu Startle Many

Posted on by
Reply

US President Donald Trump is diagnosed with Coronavirus just a month before the US Presidential election denting his chances further to an easy win. Similar to the Spanish Flu that had wreaked havoc from 1918 to 1920 in the US, the startling political developments have raised many eye brows to the fact that history repeats itself.

What Happened 100 Years Ago

In 1919, then US President Woodrow Wilson was affected by the global pandemic Spanish flu and more than 675,000 Americans died from the contagious disease.

Even in 1918, Wilson’s personal secretary was affected by the influenza, along with his eldest daughter, while many Secret Service members also caught the virus, including sheep grazing on the White House lawn.

Woodrow Wilson was a victim of the Spanish fluin 1920 while Donald Trump is facing similar fate now in 2020

Woodrow Wilson was in France for the Paris Peace Conference negotiating with the French at the end of World War I and after flu, he reportedly “yielded to several French demands that he had previously said were nonnegotiable.”

Wilson fell ill on April 3, 1919 and according to A. Scott Berg’s 2013 biography, “Wilson,” the president excused himself from a meeting with the Council of Four and returned to his room. His doctor, Cary T. Grayson, found the president suffering from severe pains in his back and head, severe coughing spells and a temperature of 103 degrees, Berg wrote.

Wilson’s condition deteriorated so quickly that Grayson even thought the president had been poisoned. In his mail to President’s chief of staff in Washington, Grayson wrote:”I was able to control the spasms of coughing but his condition looked very serious.” However, he told reporters that the president was suffering from a cold caused by the “chilly and rainy weather” in Paris.

Though Wilson had a full recovery, he suffered a collapse on Sept. 25, 1919, in Pueblo, Colorado, while speaking on his idea of the United States joining the League of Nations. Wilson returned to the White House, where he suffered a severe stroke on Oct. 2, 1919. His wife Edith apparently steered the government until Warren G. Harding took over formally as President in 1921.

What’s Happening Now

Hundred Years after, in March 2020 When the novel coronavirus gripped the world, US President Donald Trump brushed it aside as another flu outbreak that would go away once the summer sets in. When it reached an uncontrollable pandemic proportion, his disdain for a mask prompted his staff in the White House refrain from wearing a mask despite pleas to contrary by the CDC.

As in the case of Wilson, Trump’s close aide Hope Hicks tested positive for the coronavirus after spending time in close proximity to the president in the entire week preceding the diagnosis. Soon, President Donald Trump tweeted confirming that he and first lady Melania Trump tested positive for Covid-19.

Unlike in 1920 when President Wilson was not in Presidential race due to his illness, Trump is very much in the hectic campaign finishing the first round of Presidential Debates just a week before the diagnosis on October 2, that may defer the second debate slated for October 15, 2020.

Return to Normalcy

Though many world leaders have successfully returned to duties after suffering from the bouts of Covid-19 infection, Trump’s age has pushed him into the most vulnerable age group at 74 years. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advisory issued on Sept. 11, 2020, “people in their 60s or 70s are, in general, at higher risk for severe illness than people in their 50s.”

In June 2020, Trump weighed 244 pounds. For his height at 6 feet 3 inches, with a body mass index of 30.5, he is technically obese and as per the CDC, obese individuals are three times more likely than others to suffer severe symptoms of Covid-19. However, Trump does not have prominently high blood pressure, nor any cancer, kidney disease, or diabetes.

If Trump returns to normal health and wins the election, he may have rewritten the history of pandemic deja vu in the history of US or else, it would be a lesson for all the future presidents to learn and make the nation prepared for any pandemic.

India Internet Users Now More Than US Population Put Together

Posted on by
Reply

India’s current Internet users have crossed 352 million with the liberal addition of 52 million in the first half of 2015 by IAMAI, whose report is apparently based on estimates and not on empirical data.

Otherwise, the number is overwhelming as it is more than the entire population of the US put together. As of 2014, the US population was 319 million.

The mobile and Internet research body said in its January release that its estimates show mobile users by June 2015 would reach 213 million and now that the first half of the year is over, the sequel release has put forward the exact figure of 213 million, without explaining the methodology.

In January, IAMAI said, “The number of mobile internet users in India is expected to reach 213 million by June 2015.” In August, IAMAI  report listed the same figure of 213 million, raising eye-brows as to how the exact figure was reached.

On the sideslines of the report, the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) said it took more than 10 years to move from 10 million to 100 million in India but now the time period has shrunk to just 3 years to jump from 100 to 200 million.

Afterwards, in just one year, the number rose to 300 million, thanks to mobile phone users increasig in number rapidly, said a release by IAMAI.

Life Expectancy: Indian women live longer than men

Posted on by
Reply

Life expectancy has escalated to a great extent since 1990 as people even in poor nations are living longer than ever, though many of them struggling with sickness and age-old ailments, finds a new study.

In India, between 1990 and 2013, life expectancy for men and women has elevated by 6.9 years and 10.3 years, respectively.

Photo Credit: Pedro Ribeiro Simões

This new study was conducted in 188 countries by an international research team working on a project called “Global Burden of Disease” and headed by Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington.

Owing to the deterioration of mortality and illness rates due to HIV/AIDS and malaria in the last ten years, health has enhanced to a great deal across the globe. Apart from this, meeting contagious, maternal, newborn and nutritive conditions, effectively has also added to the enhancement.

Nevertheless, healthy life expectancy (HALE) at birth hasn’t seen much improvement, thus; making those who live longer live sicker.

Theo Vos, the professor of IHME as well as who lead the study said albeit health has seen a global advancement it’s time that “more effective ways” to treat and combat disorders and diseases are discovered.

The study discovered that global life expectancy and healthy life expectancy for both genders escalated by 6.2 years and 5.4 years, respectively. However, in comparison to the life expectancy that increased from 65.3 in 1990 to 71.5 in 2013, healthy life expectancy didn’t see a drastic leap with 56.9 in 1990 to 62.3 in 2013.

Majority of the evaluated nations showed “significant and positive” healthy life expectancy changes. However, Belize, Botswana and Syria didn’t show drastic changes in HALE in 2013 as compared to 1990 with the first two nations, showing regression of 2 and 1.3 years, respectively.

In other cases, countries like Paraguay, Belarus and South Africa saw a deterioration in healthy life expectancy. For instance, places like Swaziland and Lesotho in Africa and South Africa, respectively, saw healthy life expectancy drop in individuals born in 2013 as compared to them who were born 20 years before.

People of Cambodia and Nicaragua showed gripping escalation between 1990 and 2013 with 13.9 and 14.7 years, respectively.

Nonetheless, Ethiopia was pin-pointed as one of the nations that have been giving massive efforts to make sure that their country people live both healthier and longer. For instance, in 1990, the healthy life expectancy of an Ethiopian was 40.8 years, but by 2013 with 13.5 years leap, it saw over a two-fold increase to 54.3 years.

Christopher Murray, who is the IHME director said albeit “income and education” play important roles in ensuring proper health, it doesn’t “tell the full story,” adding that weighing both healthy life expectancy and health loss on each sides at country level will facilitate “guide policies” in ensuring longer and healthier lives in every nook and cranny of the world.

Italy, Spain, Norway, Switzerland and Israel showed the lowest rates of health loss. With 42 years, in 2013, Lesotho recorded the lowest healthy life expectancy whereas with 73.4 years, Japan recorded the highest healthy life expectancy.

The findings have been published in the August 27 issue of the journal “The Lancet”.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Europe showed stagnation in showing better life expectancy during the 1990s, but after 1990 when life expectancy increased by 6 years around the world, Europe also saw some increase.

On the other hand, African nations have been showing a drop in life expectancy due to being plagued by HIV/AIDS, but now with the accessibility of antiretroviral therapy, the rates have seen an escalation. For instance, in 2000, standard life expectancy at birth was 50 years, but it saw an 8 year leap in 2013.

WHO further informed that high-income nations showed greater life expectancy at 60 years of age with expectation of the individual, living another 23 years in comparison to low-income and lower-middle income nations, which showed 17 more years of life expectancy.