The collection of Salman Khan's "Sultan," struggling to draw enough footfall in its fifth week, inched closer to gross Rs. 300 crore at the Indian box office.

"Sultan" was expected to surpass the Rs. 300 crore mark in its fourth week itself, but it witnessed steep decline in business. The movie collected Rs. 4.43 crore nett at the Indian box office in its fourth week, taking its domestic total to Rs. 298.23 crore. The movie fell short of Rs 1.77 crore to cross the mark.

There were no big ticket releases in its fifth, and the Salman and Anushka Sharma-starrer was withdrawn from some theatres to make way for some small budget movies like "Fever," "Budhia Singh Born To Run" and "The Legend of Michael Mishra." The reduction in its screen count affected its business, which earlier dropped by over 50% in the second week.

"Sultan" collected approximately Rs. 2.12 crore nett at the Indian box office in its fifth week and its 37-day domestic total collection has reached Rs. Rs. 300.35 crore. Bollywood trade analyst Taran Adarsh tweeted: "#Sultan [Week 5] Fri 24 lacs, Sat 49 lacs, Sun 78 lacs, Mon 16 lacs, Tue 16 lacs, Wed 15 lacs, Thu 14 lacs. Total: ₹ 300.35 cr. India biz."

The flick's massive opening had made everyone feel that it may turn out to be the highest grossing film for Salman, beating the record of "Bajrangi Bhaijaan," which collected Rs. 320+ crore nett at the Indian box office in its life time. But with its current pace of collection, it seems that the movie is unlikely to beat this record. Also, the film faces tough competition from Akshay Kumar's "Rustom" and Hrithik Roshan's "Mohenjo Daro" that released on Aug.12 across most of the cinema halls.

However, "Sultan" has become the second highest grossing film in Salman's career.