100 years: Bollywood Blockbusters

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Bollywood films successful at the box-office are often referred to as 'hits' or 'super-hits'. However 'blockbuster' is a title not every successful film can enjoy.

Things might have changed today with every other film vying for getting into Rs 100-crore club. So while we have super successful films like Ek Tha Tiger, Dabangg, Agneepath, Bodyguard, Rowdy Rathore, Golmaal, Ghajini, Dhoom 2 and many more, the blockbuster title is given only to a select few. Here we list down the all time blockbusters of Hindi cinema.


Mother India - India's first Oscar nomination

Not many might be aware that Mehboob Khan's Mother India (1957) was a remake of his earlier black-and-white film called Aurat (1940). As he added colours to Mother India narrating the basic turmoil of the Indian farmer, the film fascinated one and all with its touching drama and towering performances from the cast comprising Nargis, sunil dutt, Rajendra Kumar and Raj Kumar, all of who went on to become big stars.

Mother India was a huge crowd-puller and was also the first Indian film nominated at the Oscars.


Mughal-e-Azam - 14 years in the making

This historical indeed created history in ways more than one. The film was in making for as long as 14 years but despite that never lost its sheen when released in 1960. The production values were grand with magnanimous war scenes and royal sets.

Mughal-e-Azam happens to be one of the few films that lived up to its hype. Word is that the current booking never opened for weeks since tickets were sold in advance. Cine-goers used to queue outside Bombay's Maratha Mandir theatre for weeks to catch this majestic movie.

At times when film budgets would never hit the million mark, Mughal-E-Azam was made at a huge budget of Rs 1.5 crores and went on to collect much more.


Sholay - 6 years uninterrupted run

The name Sholay is synonymous with super-success. Almost anybody and everybody who has little knowledge about Bollywood would know the film Sholay and its success story. Ironically this blockbuster didn't get a big opening when released on 15 August 1975 but picked up soon and then there was no looking back.

The dialogues of Sholay are still fresh in audience mind and so are the characters from the hero to even the villain's sidekick. The film ran for 4 uninterrupted years in Mumbai's Minerva theatre and continued for 2 more years in the matinee show.


Hum Aapke Hai Kaun...! - released only with 4 prints

It took a couple of decades for any film to come close to being a blockbuster success. Like Sholay, Hum Aapke Hai Kaun wasn't a huge opener since the film released only with 4 prints across Mumbai. But this is one of those rare films that picked up with positive word of mouth and whole families thronged to theatres with the comeback of the family drama.

Even Sooraj Barjatya might not have estimated that his film would do such huge business at the box-office. Hum Aapke Hai Kaun...! ran for years at Mumbai's Liberty cinema.


Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge - still playing in Mumbai

Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge handicapped Aditya Chopra in a way since he could never recreate the superlative success of the film with extreme expectations that he stirred up with the audiences. Closely following on the footsteps of Sooraj Barjatya, Aditya Chopra employed the family setting with an NRI couple and the result was a runaway success.

Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge bags the record for being the longest playing film ever since the movie is still being played at Mumbai's Maratha Mandir theatre in the matinee show ever since it released in 1995.


Gadar: Ek Prem Katha - had 6 am shows in Punjab

This partition love story starring Sunny Deol and Amisha Patel earned crores and crores for its distributors. Gadar broke all box-office records esp. in the North territory where the Deol clan rules supreme. Cinema-halls in Punjab had shows from 6 am in the morning to meet the extreme demand from the audiences.

Interestingly Gadar is the only blockbuster film that released on the same day with another blockbuster hit Lagaan.


Lagaan - housefull silver jubilee

Aamir Khan had the nerve to invest in an offbeat theme like Lagaan which was rejected by several producers. And his gamble paid off as Lagaan was an instant hit with the audience and brought back housefull board outside theatre halls. The film ran to packed houses for as long as silver jubilee, which was a rarity in times when shows didn't continue till the second week.

The cricket theme in the film was kept a suspense till its day of release which was a pleasant surprise for the audiences. Lagaan had audiences going berserk in the cinema halls with its global appeal. Irrespective of its uninterrupted run, the box-office collections might not reflect as positively for the fact that Lagaan was a 3 hour 40 minute film and could hardly manage 3 shows in a day.


3 Idiots - the 300 crore club

Rajkumar Hirani's 3 Idiots came at a time when the so-called 100-crore club had just been constituted in Bollywood with every other big star mindless movie was claiming to make 100 crores. However this film starring Aamir Khan, Sharman Joshi, Madhavan, Kareena Kapoor and Boman Irani broke all records collecting Rs 385 crores at the box-office. And this was not just any other masala flick but made its way into the audiences' heart for its meaningful content and brilliant performances. Till date, any contemporary super-hit hasn't managed to break its record.