Sultan Ali Khan(Salman Khan) is a middle-aged ex-wrestling champion, who is living a mediocre and lonely life in the small town of Haryana. Aakash Oberoi(Amit Sadh), the founder of a private mixed martial arts league, is encouraged by his father to hire an Indian wrestler to salvage the league’s popularity. He travels to Haryana to make an offer to Sultan, who bluntly refuses and says that he has completely retired from wrestling. In search of the reason behind his retirement, Aakash confronts Sultan’s close friend Govind(Anant Sharma), who narrates how Sultan’s career began.
Eight years ago, Sultan fell in love at the sight of Aarfa Hussain(Anushka Sharma), a state-level wrestler and the daughter of a local wrestling coach. Although she was initially cold towards him, Aarfa accepted Sultan as a friend. When he began to proclaim that she was his girlfriend, she rejected him by stating that she wishes to marry an accomplished wrestler like herself. Determined to win her respect, Sultan dedicated himself to intense training and ultimately won a state-level wrestling tournament, as well as Aarfa’s love. The two were married and became recognized wrestlers, representing India in various international tournaments like the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games. When the two were announced as finalists for the Olympic Games, Aarfa discovered that she was pregnant. She gave up her childhood dream of winning an Olympic gold medal for India, which was then fulfilled by Sultan. To her surprise, Sultan’s accomplishment made him arrogant, and he acted conceitedly during a press conference. Even though Aarfa informed him that she was nearing her due date, Sultan left to win another international wrestling championship. Upon returning, he was shocked to know that his newborn son had died due to severe anemia. The baby had a rare O negative blood type, identical to Sultan’s, whose absence deprived the child of a donor. Angered, Aarfa decided to leave Sultan and reside with her father. Depressed from losing his wife and child, Sultan began to fundraise to open a blood bank in Haryana.
In the present day, Aakash asks Sultan to join his league and promises that the tournament’s prize money will fulfill his dream of opening a blood bank. Sultan agrees despite having become unfit and tired, and travels to Delhi, where Aakash introduces him to freestyle mixed martial arts coach Fateh Singh(Randeep Hooda). After two months of training with Fateh, who is a former international champion, Sultan manages to regain his physique and learns how to wrestle freestyle. Although he initially struggles in his first fight, Sultan defeats the opponent using his own iconic wrestling style. He soon becomes a nationwide sensation once again by winning a series of matches and gains Aarfa’s support in the process. During the semi-final round, Sultan wins the fight but is severely injured and has to be hospitalized. The doctor informs Aakash that Sultan should not fight again lest his injuries become fatal. Aarfa arrives at the ward and reconciles with Sultan, motivating him to continue fighting. During the final match, Sultan overcomes his pain to defeat his opponent and ultimately wins the tournament. Reunited with his wife, Sultan opens a blood bank using the prize money and Aarfa resumes wrestling. A few years later, she gives birth to a baby girl, whom Sultan begins to train as a wrestler.
Cast
Salman Khan as Sultan Ali Khan
Anushka Sharma as Aarfa Ali Khan née Hussain
Anant Vidhaat Sharma as Govind/Sultan’s friend
Meiyang Chang as Pro Takedown host
Randeep Hooda as Fateh Singh/Sultan’s coach
Amit Sadh as Aakash, Pro Takedown founder and Sultan’s presenter
Tyron Woodley as Tyron(Himself)(wrestler)
Marko Zaror as Marcus, the finalist wrestler.
Kumud Mishra as Barkat Hussain[11]
Sumeet Samnani as Tiny Kukreja, Sultan’s sponsor[12]
Kubra Sait as Pro Takedown host[13]
Production
Casting and development
The project was earlier announced in June 2015 with a teaser released on YouTube.[14] Khan will be seen portraying Haryana-based wrestler in the film.[15][16] Khan underwent wrestling training under the guidance of Larnell Stovall.[17][18][19]
In October 2015, there were reports of American actor Sylvester Stallone being cast in the film as Khan’s on-screen coach.[20] However, Raja Mukerji, the Executive Producer of the film cleared that Stallone would not be starring in the film.[21] Later, Sanjay Dutt was then rumored to play the role of coach according to Khan’s insistence.[22] However, Khan later reported that he never insisted Aditya Chopra for Dutt’s role.[23]
In December 2015, Randeep Hooda was later signed to play the role of Khan’s coach in the film.[24][25] Amit Sadh, of Kai Po Che fame was reportedly signed for the role of young Sultan.[26] However, in March 2016, he confirmed that he is playing the role of Khan’s younger brother.[27] MMA fighter Tyron Woodley has been signed opposite Khan with other fighters in the film.[28][29][30]
In January 2016, Anushka Sharma was signed to play the female lead role opposite Khan.[31] For her role as a wrestler, Sharma took wrestling lessons for the film.[32][33] In February 2016, Farah Khan was signed as the choreographer of the film, replacing Vaibhavi Merchant who left the film due to personal commitments.[34]
Filming
Pre-production of the film started in October 2015 where Khan posted a photo of his character in the film on Facebook.[35] Principal photography of the film started in December 2015 at N.D Studios, Karjat[36][37] and JW Marriott Mumbai, where the film’s first schedule was filmed.[38] Filming of the first schedule had been completed in late December 2015.[39][40] Filming of the second schedule was started in January 2016 where Khan filmed for action sequences.[41][42] A song was filmed in early March 2016, choreographed by Farah.[43] An action sequence between Khan and Sharma was reportedly filmed.[44] The Some of the sequence of the movie will feature 360 year old Jama Masjid of Delhi.[45] In late April 2016 the lead actor Salman Khan was seen riding a scooter as a part of shooting in Muzaffarnagar.[46]
Music
Sultan(Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Soundtrack album by Vishal–Shekhar
Released 31 May 2016
Recorded YRF Studios, Mumbai
Genre Feature film soundtrack
Length 39:10
Language Hindi
Label YRF Music
Producer Aditya Chopra
Vishal–Shekhar chronology
Fan
(2016) Sultan
(2016) Akira
(2016)
The music for Sultan is composed by Vishal–Shekhar while the lyrics are penned by Irshad Kamil. The soundtrack album was released on 31 May 2016. The album consists of 9 songs.[47]
No. Title Singer(s) Length
"Baby Ko Bass Pasand Hai" Vishal Dadlani, Shalmali Kholgade, Ishita, Badshah 04:13
"Jag Ghoomeya" Rahat Fateh Ali Khan 04:41
"440 Volt" Mika Singh 04:28
"Sultan" Sukhwinder Singh, Shadab Faridi 04:40
"Sachi Muchi" Mohit Chauhan, Harshdeep Kaur 03:59
"Bulleya" Papon 05:57
"Tuk Tuk" Nooran Sisters, Vishal Dadlani 04:12
"Jag Ghoomeya(Female)" Neha Bhasin 04:14
"Rise of Sultan" Shekhar Ravjiani 02:46
Total length:
39:10
Release
Online piracy issue
On 6 July 2016, the film’s digital copy was reported to be available in the darknet. Confirming that the copy was created from the sample sent by the producers to the CBFC board for review, cyber crime experts investigating the leak said, "The leak is confirmed. The copy of the movie is available on the darknet and soon it will be available on torrent."[48] However, Yash Raj Films, the film’s producer, denied such development. Kislay Chaudhary, a private investigator, claimed that the links of the 2 hour, 36 minute-long movie were available, and shared the screenshot of the same with Mail Today. "Many websites have been blocked since Tuesday evening and links were removed immediately, " he added.