The Highest Grossing Hindi Movie Ever
In a film industry which boasts more releases each year than Hollywood, Bollywood has seen its share of blockbuster hits. For the sheer spectacle of Hindi films, nothing comes close. The occasional Hollywood film might make an attempt at something epic and glorious, but so far nothing has quite equalled the outrageousness of even the average Hindi movie.
The reason? Partly it may be that Hindi movies have traditionally tended to cater to the whole spectrum of humanity, from the young to the old, from family types to young romantics. This was done, admittedly, so that people of all ages and walks of life would be drawn to the movie and thus increase revenue, but one would be hard pressed to say that this practice of crossing genres has not worked to great effect in the quality movies that have come out of Mumbai (as well as other cities in India).
Thus, we have the example of India’s highest grossing film to date, after adjusting for inflation: Sholay. Released in 1975, this piece starred Amitabh Bachchan and his brother Dharmendra and was directed by Ramesh Sippy. Among the themes of friendship and romance were also vengeance. The energy of the stars combined with what was at that time (and still today) stellar storytelling and ideas meant that the film ran in theaters for 286 weeks, which equals more than five consecutive YEARS. The film went on to gross a total of Rs. 768,81,00,000 (adjusted for inflation), an amount which would be the equivalent of 160 million US dollars .
In Sholay we find the classic elements of Hindi movies which would be utilized by so many other movies to come- great comic scenes as well as scenes of heartbreak, tenderness, and love- in a movie which might also be called an action flick by some.
