Box Office India Records

MEGASTARS OF INDIAN CINEMA

India has seen seven stars achieve mega stardom and two of them are Shahrukh Khan and Salman Khan.

The others being Dilip Kumar, Rajendra Kumar, Dharmendra, Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan.

There is not one name in sight from regional film industries and yet today you see names like Prabhas, Yash, Allu Arjun and others put up with there with two superstars who are not only the biggest superstars of the day but among the biggest ever.

There are many stars in the industry but it does not mean box office super stardom as this happens to very few. You can have the biggest HITS but what you do in the film has to be a craze and that makes the big difference as many actors have give huge hits over the last 100 years but only 7 are really big box office stars.

1. Dilip Kumar (1952-1964)

Blockbuster films like Aan, Azaad, Insaaniyat, Naya Daur, Madhumati, Paigham, and Kohinoor, which were more in the commercial element of those times, smashed box office records. These films created the superstar Dilip Kumar. The likes of Aan, Azaad, and Insaaniyat also set the precedent for that big-budget Hindi commercial potboiler, which was to dominate Hindi cinema for years and still does.

The peak of his career came in the early 1960s with films like Mughal-E-Azam (1960) and Ganga Jumna (1961), which created history and remain today among the biggest blockbusters of Hindi cinema. The performance in Ganga Jumna is also probably the greatest ever by an actor in India. The workload slowed after that, though the big hits still came with Ram Aur Shyam (1967) and Gopi (1970), but it was difficult now to fit into that traditional hero format due to age.

2. Rajendra Kumar (1963-1968)

3. Rajesh Khanna (1969-1974)

Ittefaq (1969) starred Rajesh Khanna in the lead and was released in early October 1969. At this time, Rajesh Khanna was virtually unknown as far as the audience was concerned. It was first released in Mumbai, Kolkata, and Jaipur, and the latter two tanked. But then, at the end of October 1969, a film named Aradhana came out, and Rajesh Khanna became a star, and this built some interest in Ittefaq. Delhi/UP was released a month after Aradhana, and other circuits were released after the historic blockbuster Do Raaste (December 1969), when Rajesh Khanna was a megastar. So basically, it was a low-budget film that was about to meet its waterloo at the box office, but as fate would have it, the male lead of the film became a megastar, and such was the craze at that time that he could pull through a low-budget Ittefaq while sleeping.

Rajesh Khanna saw the Greatest Ever Run at the box office, which lasted from October 1969 to June 1971. It was an extraordinary run because it is unlikely that 14 hits like this will be given by anybody in a span of 21 months again. It could happen again, but not in a short 21-month span. He delivered 14 hits out of 15 films, including nine blockbuster/super hit films.

Rajesh Khanna and Shahrukh Khan are probably the biggest romantic stars in history and its this genre.

Rajesh Khanna lost super stardom in late 72 to early 73 but the films with Mumtaz still worked like Roti, Aap Ki Kasam and Prem Kahani in 74-75.

4. Dharmendra (1971-1987)

One of the biggest stars ever (the biggest ever if we count the number of HITS and successful films). The big breakthrough was the huge blockbuster success of Phool Aur Patthar (1966), which was one of the biggest grossers of that decade and is probably around the 400 crore nett mark in terms of business today. It put Dharmendra among the top five stars and gave him the image of that physical macho star, which was to set the box office fire in the 70's.

The late sixties saw many huge hits like Aankhen (1968), Shikar (1968), and Aaya Sawan Jhoom Ke (1969), but they did not capitalize on the image that Phool Aur Patthar gave. The rubber stamping of the image came with Mera Gaon Mera Desh in 1971, which was a bigger blockbuster than Phool Aur Pathar. This film also changed the direction of Hindi cinema, as prior to Mera Gaon Mera Desh, the big films were mainly romantic dramas shot in the Kashmir valleys with super-hit music. The mega success of this film made the industry shift to action.

The peak of Dharmendra came in the mid-70s with films like Sholay (1975), Pratiggya (1975), and Dharam Veer (1977). After this, the quality of films dropped, but that initial draw remained intact, driving films to succeed until the early 90's. Eventually, the career saw around 60 jubilee hits and over 100 successful films. These figures are way ahead of the rest, and it can be said with almost 100% certainty that it won't be beaten unless Akshay Kumar or Ajay Devgn (these two have a volume of films today) start giving 3–4 hits a year for the next ten years. Even if this miracle were to happen, the level of success of Dharmendra HITS is far superior, with many films having historic success. Many of these HITS are solo films, but in the 1970's there was a trend toward multistarrers, and Dharmendra worked in many of these as well. The difference here between Dharmendra and the others in the 70's was that when Dharmendra was in a two- or three-hero film, it became his film, and it could be seen by the audience that he was the main lead and the others were in supporting or lesser roles.

5. Amitabh Bachchan (1977-1992)

Many newcomers got paired with Mumtaz as distributors picked up films on her name and one of these newcomers was even future superstar Amitabh Bachchan in Bandhe Haath. Due to the super hit heroine this film fetched a higher price than Zanjeer, the film which made Amitabh Bachchan a star.

Amitabh Bachchan is the biggest star the country has seen to date.

In total there could be 30 bumper openings for Amitabh Bachchan as in the eighties and early nineties it was bumper for nearly every film be it that film eventually turned out to be a HIT or FLOP.

If we go further back and include legends and biggest stars of all time like Dharmendra, Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan then its eleven times for Dharmendra (including Tahelka and Kshatriya), four times for Rajesh Khanna and twelve times for Amitabh Bachchan (including Bade Miyan Chhote Miyan, Hindustan Ki Kasam and Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham).

6. Shahrukh Khan (1995-2017), (2023-2024*)

Shahrukh Khan had made an entry with Deewana which was a huge HIT.

Shahrukh Khan does not have many huge disasters as he became a box office force very early in his career.

Darr had the advantage of the biggest stars of the time with Sunny Deol ruling the roost and Shahrukh Khan closing in on the top spot at the time.

Padmaavat is not a Darr scenario like it was with Shahrukh Khan as the public was with Shahrukh Khan's character in these films and the sympathy went to him which made him a major star. Here the public is not with the character of Ranveer Singh as he is the villian. The last one to do extraordinary business all over was actually a Shahrukh Khan film Darr in 1993. This is probably the most successful thriller genre film in India ever.

Even Shahrukh Khan played second fiddle to Madhuri Dixit in Anjaam but Shahrukh Khan was on a crest of a wave at the time and the audience could not accept him as an outright villain and the film was rejected.

Guddu and Oh Darling Yeh Hai India were taken on before he became a major star with Baazigar and Darr.

In 1995 Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge came and created another huge box office Megastar. Action has dominated the box office since the release of Mera Gaon Mera Desh in June 1971 till today and in those 50 years only Shahrukh Khan managed to create a huge fan following without an action image.

The mega stardom will never come from a biopic though as the actor is unable to leave his stamp on the character like a Shahrukh Khan did in DDLJ or Salman Khan in Dabangg.

Veer Zaara became a super hit due to its medium budget, but it had the projection of a Diwali blockbuster, probably because of the presence of Shahrukh Khan and the huge initial in India and overseas. Record Initial Worldwide without much commercial elements.

Rajesh Khanna and Shahrukh Khan are probably the biggest romantic stars in history and its this genre.

Basically the bigger the star, the bigger the risk with this genre. The more popular you are then the higher the expectations go which just can't be met with the genre especially the sort of number that is expected of a Shahrukh Khan or a Salman Khan starrer. Its difficult to meet expectations anyway and if a few circuits reject the film then the gap between expectation and final result can look huge which is the case with Fan.

The downside of mega stardom is that you can't really go out of the drama, action genre today as box office numbers are reported everywhere and outside these genres you need some outstanding film to put up a megastar number. Even the legendary megastars of prior generations with great box office records are likely to have filmographies devoid of thrillers.

Pathaan will take initials like very few films have before across the world because it is that traditional ALL INDIA MASS FILM for Hindi audiences across the globe and these are a rarity today. On top it has one of the biggest superstar ever of Hindi cinema coming back after a few years.

The admissions were around 23k which is no joke for a film which has already been so widely watched for the last 27 years. The main reason of the response is Shahrukh Khan and shows the superstardom is at was before and now the wait for Pathaan which will see Shahrukh Khan in this type of action zone which has not been seen for years if ever seen.

Pathaan saw Shahrukh Khan in the action genre which should have happened 10-15 years ago as a lot of his non performers were down to genre not being correct at the time of release for such a big star. The superstar works in films more often were superstardom meets genre rather than just depending on superstardom.

Shahrukh Khan is the biggest Indian film star ever seen in overseas and this is pretty much indisputable and he has had sub par movies over the last few years but they have still recorded HIT numbers and now here comes a much better product so there is a good chance that the overseas market can be pushed to another level.

Shahrukh Khan leads as he has not really seen a down period since the early 90's while Aamir Khan and Salman Khan have seen down periods. Even non performers of Shahrukh Khan are not Commercial Zone Event films. Failures came mainly in limited appealing Genres.

It will be called the comeback of Shahrukh Khan and as its a release after fours year it can be called a comeback from that angle but not as a star because the clout was there in 2003, 2013 and now 2023, all Pathaan does is confirm the clout and if not Pathaan something else would have done it.Years of megastardom does not die with 3 or 4 films not performing.

All in all another great day for the film industry as business jumps again in leaps and bounds and this has come with music that has not worked but Shahrukh Khan coming off Pathan with another huge ACTION film was always opening huge and its was just about whether it tops Pathaan opening. The action factor is highlighted in capitals as its of utmost importance as a lot of Hindi films in the last twenty years had gone towards thriller zone and only Salman Khan was doing actions films. Even Shahrukh Khan so called actions films like Don franchise were more towards thriller. Pathan, Gadar 2 and now Jawan are outright action films and opening results are all there for to see.

Animal probably put him behind only Shahrukh Khan as far as box office pegging order goes But these sort of things are not just about one film but time and its also the genre making a big difference be it SRK or Ranbir now as Pathaan, Jawan and Animal is very different from the cinema they had been doing pre pandemic and long may it continue.

7. Salman Khan (2010-2019)

Saajan had Sanjay Dutt and Salman Khan while Beta had Anil Kapoor but generally it was Madhuri Dixit leading the way in these films. Then came the peak with Hum Aapke Hain Kaun and Raja and it could be that no heroine had ever reached this level.

“The other side of the industry will believe its difficult to make good female driven films but thats not the case either as a Mother India and Hum Aapke Hain Kaun stand with the male testosterone driven Sholay and Gadar as historic blockbusters in Hindi cinema.”

“Gone are the days of Rajhshris when these sort of stories without the stars reached out to the wider audience and that too when there were only single screens.”

The film (Judwaa 1997) was also the film which gave the career of Salman Khan a major lift as although he had much bigger Hits than Judwaa before they were either two hero films like Saajan, Karan Arjun and Jeet or ensemble cast ones like Hum Aapke Hain Kaun and Sanam Bewafa where the supporting artistes have major roles.

In 2009 came Wanted which was not a huge hit but created this action star image for Salman Khan who until then was more of a romantic hero. He consolidated this image with films like Dabangg and Bodyguard and there was no looking back. These film were not the biggest blockbusters of the career of Salman Khan but created an image where the huge openings materialized which was not the case with some of the earlier bigger hits.

A male star has to do something in a film where the audience takes to him in the big way and for Salman Khan it happened with Dabangg and not Hum Aapke Hain Kaun. It was not only Dabangg as one film cant lead to such super stardom but others like Bodyguard and Ek Tha Tiger which helped cement the audience.

Even a Salman Khan starrer London Dreams comes up on the list but it was before his superstar days which started with Dabangg(2010) and the way things are going it won't be there forever as there will be some 50 crore plus budget film which will do less than 25 crore nett over the next few years.

The mega stardom will never come from a biopic though as the actor is unable to leave his stamp on the character like a Shahrukh Khan did in DDLJ or Salman Khan in Dabangg.

There are many stars in the industry, but that does not mean box office super stardom, as this happens to very few. It’s not only box office numbers because, as you pointed out, there was Hum Aapke Hain Koun, which is a far bigger hit than Dabangg and the biggest hit in a generation. A male star has to do something in a film where the audience takes to him in a big way, and for Salman Khan, it happened with Dabangg and not Hum Aapke Hain Kaun. It was not only Dabangg as one film that could lead to such super stardom but others like Bodyguard and Ek Tha Tiger, which helped cement the audience from where there was no looking back. A similar scenario took place with Shahrukh Khan in Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge and Sunny Deol in Ghayal. You can have the biggest hits, but what you do in the film has to be a craze, and that makes a big difference, as many actors have given huge hits over the last 100 years, but only seven actors are really big box office stars.

One crore footfalls also means reaching an audience although some films need to reach a bigger audience due to the size of the films and most Salman Khan films come into this category. The one miss was Veer (2010) which was his first release of the decade and became before Dabangg (2010) which established his image of a mass action superstar across India and then films like Bodyguard, Ready and Ek Tha Tiger rubber stamped this image. Veer actually scored in Rajasthan and Bihar but Salman Khan was not the same star at the time of this release as he was a year or two later.

Basically just one film under 1 crore footfalls through the whole decade means most of his films got an audience irrelevent of content. If we compare then Aamir Khan had one film which fell under 1 crore footfalls in the 2000-2009 decade but there were just nine releases and Manoj Kumar had one miss in the 1970-1979 decade but only ten films. Limited films had a hand in not missing the 1 crore mark for Aamir Khan and Manoj Kumar.

The 100 year plus history of cinema in India has seen around seven genuine superstars or megastars. We say genuine as regional superstars are called superstars today while stars and mini stars also get called superstars so the word superstar looses value.

When historians right about Indian cinema then it may well be that the names of Dilip Kumar, Amitabh Bachchan and Shahrukh Khan are top of the pile due to various reasons.

Top Ten Female Lead Driven Opening Days - Kareena Alia Dominate

Crew is the third highest opening ever as far as female lead driven films go only behind Veere Di Wedding and Gangubai Kathiawadi though final numbers can take it above Gangubai Kathaiwadi also. It is a holiday which has pushed the film to the levels of Gangubai Kathiawadi but even without that it would have been in the top ten.

The top ten list is dominated by films of Kareena Kapoor and Alia Bhatt who are probably the biggest female stars of the past two decades or so. There is also Heroine (Kareena Kapoor) sitting on 11th place. Crew is an ensemble cast with other female stars like Tabu and Kriti Sanon so its a package but Kareena Kapoor is the main driving force as far as box office goes. There is only one double digit film and that is also a Kareena Kapoor starrer Veere Di Wedding.

There have been five heroines in the Hindi film industry who would be in the all time great list and were undisputed in their times and they are Vyjayanthimala, Mumtaz, Hema Malini, Sridevi and Madhuri Dixit and post this opening of Crew Kareena Kapoor joins the list. Maybe the level of success is not as high as the other names above but the longevity makes up for that. If the success ratio of Alia Bhatt keeps up over the next few years her name will also be up there with the all time greats making it seven heroines.

The opening of the film is also boost the films featuring the heroines as central leads as today most of the top female stars want roles which makes it tough to get a top male star and a top female star in the same film catering to the mass audience as it will be male dominated.

The problem occurs that today films post pandemic have to cater to a wider audience to get an initial so have to be more commercial and cinematic which is tougher with females. It leads the heroines towards action and they play avenging angels or spy agents and basically become the heroes. But the fact remains that heroines become stars due to their songs and glamour but this all goes out of the window in an action / thriller film.

Obviously its action which is going to take these opening numbers higher but how do you do it retaining the essence of the Hindi film heroine with songs and glamour as presenting the heroine like a male will not cut it with the wider audience. The top ten opening days for heroine led films are as follows.

1. Veere Di Wedding - 10,42,00,000 (Kareena Kapoor)

2. Gangubai Kathiawadi - 9,62,00,000 (Alia Bhatt)

3. Crew - 9,50,00,000 apprx (Kareena Kapoor) (Holiday)

4. Dear Zindagi - 8,62,00,000 (Alia Bhatt)

5. Tanu Weds Manu Returns - 8,61,00,000 (Kangana Ranuat)

6. Mary Kom - 8,32,00,000 (Priyanka Chopra)

7. Ragini MMS 2 - 7,93,00,000 (Sunny Leone)

8. Manikarnika - Queen Of Jhansi - 7,66,00,000 (Kangana Ranaut)

9. Jism 2 - 7,46,00,000 (Sunny Leone)

10. Raazi - 7,33,00,000 (Alia Bhatt)

Rajesh Khanna’s HISTORIC RUN at the BOXOFFICE

Rajesh Khanna, the Mega star of the 70's, debuted in 1966 with Aakhri Khat and it was Aradhana and Do Raaste in late 1969 that made Rajesh Khanna a phenomenon, and he saw stardom that no other actor had seen before or has seen since.

After Aradhana and Do Raaste he had many blockbusters in his career like Sachcha Jhuta (1970), Haathi Mera Saathi (1971), Dushman (1972), Apna Desh (1972), and Avtar (1983), amongst others.

Rajesh Khanna also combined with actress Mumtaz to give the film industry one of the most popular heroines in Hindi cinema.

Rajesh Khanna delivered 14 hits out of 15 films from 1969 Oct to June 1971. It was an extraordinary run because it is unlikely that 14 hits like this will be given by anybody in a span of 21 months again. It could happen again, but not in a short 21-month span. It can also be said that it is easier for big stars to give big hits today as it has a lot to do with initials, while 40 years ago a film had to run for 25 weeks in around 8–10 centers to be a big hit so the initial factor was less.

The Rajesh Khanna run was ended by a film called Mehboob Ki Mehndi which was his most expensive film till that date.

Rajesh Khanna was the biggest box office force from 1969 to 1971, and he ruled the industry from 1969 to 1974 for almost 6 years. He saw a major bad phase after 1974.

6	Doli	10-Oct-69	1,25,00,000	Hit
7	Ittefaq	10-Oct-69	1,15,00,000	Hit
8	Aradhana	07-Nov-69	3,75,00,000	SUPER BLOCKBUSTER
9	Do Raaste	05-Dec-69	3,85,00,000	SUPER BLOCKBUSTER ¤
10	Bandhan	26-Dec-69	1,80,00,000	Super Hit
11	The Train	10-Apr-70	1,35,00,000	Hit
12	Saccha Jhutha	01-May-70	2,85,00,000	BLOCKBUSTER
13	Safar	01-Oct-70	1,60,00,000	Hit
14	Aan Milo Sajna	24-Dec-70	2,60,00,000	BLOCKBUSTER
15	Kati Patangg	29-Jan-71	2,10,00,000	Super Hit
16	Mehboob Ki Mehendi	19-Feb-71	90,00,000	Flop
17	Anand	12-Mar-71	1,75,00,000	Hit
18	Andaz	30-Apr-71	2,25,00,000	Super Hit
19	Haathi Mere Saathi	28-May-71	4,00,00,000	SUPER BLOCKBUSTER
20	Maryada	28-May-71	2,50,00,000	Super Hit

Star Positions 2023 - Female Leads

The box office has been back for two years now and now enough films have been released to get an idea of star positions post the pandemic. As far as female leads go Alia Bhatt is the undisputed number one being the main force driving for the success of Gangubai Kathiawadi Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahaani. She is probably the only female star who is a a box office draw and can carry a film alone.

The box office numbers of films featuring Alia Bhatt have always been better in Mumbai city and Pune even when the content is more of a North type of film like 2 States or Raazi and this has continued with Gangubai Kathiawadi and Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahaani so when a heroine has a few places always outperforming it really helps at the box office though it will tougher ahead as these two centres are very unpredictable at the moment.

There are probably three other female leads that can be called stars today and they are Deepika Padukone, Kiara Advani and Shraddha Kapoor. So the ranking today is as follows and its difficult to put someone in fifth place as either no one is able to make much of an impact or other female leads don't hold the same value as before.

1. Alia Bhatt

2. Deepika Padukone

3. Kiara Advani

4. Shraddha Kapoor

There was a time when Deepika Padukone was well clear of the field but there were not many films towards the end of the last decade just before the pandemic and the attempts to succeed in films where the female lead is the driver did not work like Finding Fanny and Chhapaak. The last named was a huge downer just before the pandemic but Pathaan came post the pandemic and it probably undid some of the Chhapaak damage which was a mistake of epic proportions for a heroine like Deepika Padukone..

Kiara Advani had made huge strides just before the pandemic with films like Kabir Singh and Good Newwz and even in the pandemic had a blockbuster song Burj Khalifa and Laxmii (2020) which is probably still the only genuine HIT to be premiered on digital. The run continues post the pandemic and at the moment is that quintessential Hindi film heroine who fits well into all genres and is also able to pair up with most the leading male stars. In popularity with the youth she could actually be ahead of Deepika Padukone at this point of time.

Shraddha Kapoor is the fourth genuine female star today and actually should probably being doing better but there are so few films and this just not the case over the last few years but even now post pandemic it will be only two releases in around four years with Tu Jhooti Main Makkaar and Stree 2. The popularity is there but films have to come to prove this.

After these four it would probably be names like Katrina Kaif, Kareena Kapoor, Kriti Sanon and Disha Patani. Katrina Kaif had Tiger 3 which did well and that is the zone she fits into well but there are very few films made like that. But the issue its difficult to slot her into that so called female content film zone unless its action genre but those films are also very less if any.

Kareena Kapoor has had Lal Singh Chadda and a television film but has face value and the talent still to work at the box office given the right film but obviously too many television films will dilute the equity as far as theatrical value is concerned which will only make box office success harder especially in a female led film.

Kriti Sanon was on a upward curve before the pandemic hit and just behind Alia Bhatt and Kiara Advani as far as the girls who made an entry in the last decade were concerned but post pandemic the audience has not been that kind with major duds and now its about whether this trend can reverse with the right films.

Disha Patani is similar to Shraddha Kapoor with so little work. There is some credit to go to her for the initial of Ek Villain 2 so there is some popularity there but again you need back to back films to reach that genuine star status.

Generally there is dearth of popular heroines for the youth hero / heroine film as Alia maybe has become too big for this zone, Deepika will not pair well with the younger actors while Shraddha hardly does films leaving Kiara but with her run at the box office she will probably have the choice of the bigger films and there are four female stars who actually make a difference.

This makes it even more difficult to make that medium budget comedy./ action / love story as the younger male stars have not hit huge heights at the box office so you need a pairing with a popular heroine to make it a package to get that initial audience out but those heroines are limited in supply.

Kiara Advani had made huge strides just before the pandemic with films like Kabir Singh and Good Newwz and even in the pandemic had a huge blockbuster song Burj Khalifa and Laxmii (20200 which is probably still the only genuine HIT to be premiered on digital. The run continues post the pandemic and at the moment is that quintessential Hindi film heroine who will fits well into all genres and is also able to pair up with most the leading male stars. In popularity with the youth she could actually be ahead of Deepika Padukone at this point of time.