Box Office India Records: Gadar Ek Prem Katha

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Rewind - Forty Years Of Historic Blockbuster KRANTI

Kranti released 40 years ago on this date and remains one of the greatest films in Hindi cinema where the audience went mad over the film from the very first show and then the film went on to create history. Kranti was about a revolutionary farmers oath to take on the British Raj told in an epic way with almost perfect storytelling for the Indian audience which struck a chord and how. It was also backed up with blockbuster music and heart wrenching emotions and all this puts it among the top ten films ever of Hindi cinema. Kranti is no doubt the biggest patriotic film ever seen in India with Gadar - Ek Prem Katha being next best.

The film released on 13th February 1981 in Mumbai, Delhi / UP, East Punjab, CP Berar, CI and Rajasthan to packed houses with a struggle to find tickets for weeks. The film then released in South a couple of weeks later while it made its entry into West Bengal and Bihar in April to an extraordinary response.

The film had a hust cast featuring Dilip Kumar, Manoj Kumar, Shashi Kapoor, Hema Malini, Shatrughan Sinha and Parveen Babi among others and was directed by Manoj Kumar who had four huge HITS to his credit but Kranti was set to go to another level compared to his earlier films.

At the time of release it was the fastest earner of all time setting first run records in practically all circuits barring Mumbai and South. It was the second highest grossing film ever behind Sholay but that is because no film could come close to the repeat run business of Sholay and nor will any film be able to. Kranti had higher business than Sholay if we count first run only.

If we look at it in terms of business today the film may well be showing a number of over 600 crore nett or even 700 crore nett. It celebrated a silver jubilee in 26 centres and even in places like Mirzapur (UP) and Jungadh (Gujarat) where jubilees were very rare. There are hardly ten films in history that have celebrated jubilees in over 25 centres.

The craze of the film was such that in places like Delhi, Rajasthan, UP and Haryana there were shops selling Kranti T shirts, jackets, vests and even underwear. The year 1981 was a big one for the industry which saw some huge BLOCKBUSTERS like Naseeb, Laawaris, Ek Duje Ke Liye, Love Story and Meri Awaaz Suno and many other HITS but Kranti stood apart and top of the pile.

The film in Delhi / UP was so huge that it released with 24 prints and within a few weeks you would except some of these prints going down into smaller centres for monetisation but even after ten weeks of release it had only hit Delhi city and 19 towns and cities of UP and still over 100 towns and cities to go which had cinemas. The collections in all major centres of UP were just refusing to drop week after week. The collections after ten weeks in places like Agra, Gorakhpur and Varanasi were stll competing with new releases. The first ten week figures in Delhi / UP are as follows.

Week One - 15,01,254

Week Two - 14,93,362

Week Three - 14,35,710

Week Four - 14,08,561

Week Five - 12,14,008

Week Six - 12,01,502

Week Seven - 11,05,223

Week Eight - 11,39,816

Week Nine - 10,78,713

Week Ten - 10,10,027

TOTAL - 1,25,88,176 (10 weeks)

Kranti grossed 1.25 crore nett in Delhi / UP in ten weeks and then went on to do over 3 crore nett in its full run and before Hum Aapke Hain Kaun came in 1994 there were only three films in history to cross 3 crore nett in Delhi / UP and they were Sholay (1975), Kranti (1981) and Mard (1985).

Bahubali 2 Is The Biggest Hindi Blockbuster This Century

Bahubali 2 - The Conclusion has emerged the biggest Hindi blockbuster this century as it became a bigger blockbuster than Gadar Ek Prem Katha (2001). Bahubali 2 has notched up 5.21 crore footfalls in Hindi in five weeks beating Gadar Ek Prem Katha which was 5.06 crore. These two films stand head and shoulders above the rest this century with both topping 5 crore footfalls. Dangal lag well behind with 3.61 crore. Bahubali 2 in Hindi is not the biggest blockbuster ever as there will probably be 8-10 other films topping 5 crore footfalls.

Basically Bahubali 2 (Hindi) is the biggest blockbuster this century. In terms of all time it is probably in the Hindi top ten or at least very close to the top ten. The biggest achievement by Bahubali 2 (Hindi) is that 5 crore footfalls have come after 16 years and it looked as if it would never happen because films were struggling to even get close to 4 crore. This film has shown that blockbusters of epic proportions that can compete with legendary blockbusters are still possible. We were in a period that records were being broken every year or two but Bahubali 2 will change this as when in history a film like this has come then records have stuck for sometime. The hope will be that it does not take another 16 years to have a blockbuster of this level. The biggest Hindi blockbusters of the last 25 years with the adjusted nett gross (the older films are adjusted for 2016 levels as there is no Average Ticket Price for 2017 yet) are as follows.

1. Hum Aapke Hain Kaun - 7,05,00,00,000

2. Bahubali 2 - 5,04,00,00,000 apprx (40 Days)

3. Gadar Ek Prem Katha - 4,82,00,00,000

4. Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge - 4,58,00,00,000

5. Raja Hindustani - 3,90,00,00,000

Bahubali 2 - The Conclusion (all languages) has close to 10 crore footfalls across India which is more than Hum Aapke Hain Kaun though its in four languages compared to the one of Hum Aapke Hain Kaun and even if we add Hum Aapke Hain Kaun in Telugu then Bahubali 2 (all languages) still remains well ahead.

If we take the 10 crore footfalls it still probably is not the biggest blockbuster ever in India as Mother India (1957), Mughal E Azam (1960) and Sholay (1975) will have more footfalls than Bahubali 2 and they were just one format films.

History Says There Is ONE Winner Or NO Winner In Clashes

Recent history suggests that in a clash there can be only one winner or two under performers. Though it is made out that if films are not similar and different genres they can co exist but that is not the case.

The last time a clash gave out real super hit films was ages back in the day of staggered releases where despite releasing on the same day, one film would release in Mumbai and the other in North or vice versa, this even saw three super hit films coming together. The little exception was Dil v Ghayal in 1990 but even here the former had raced ahead in first six months though Ghayal more than made up in repeat runs as the Sunny Deol action image got stronger and stronger in the 90's. If it was not for this only Dil would have been the blockbuster film.

Gadar v Lagaan in 2001 is another example normally used to show that two films can co-exist but here Lagaan was a loser in many circuits due to Gadar, it managed to survive due to super hit business in Mumbai and South but if it did not clash it would have become a major hit. This happened in the days of 300 screen releases when films could easily get the amount of screens needed which is not the case today when films are looking for 4000 screens.

In 2001, the perception was not through numbers so Lagaan got away with it due to media perception but today its totally different scenario and neither Gold or Satyamev Jayate will want or rather can't afford to be a Lagaan and loose the battle by a landslide as numbers will be there for all to see. In 2012 there was Jab Tak Hai Jaan and Son Of Sardaar where both under performed but numbers were respectable but with the costs involverd.

Obviously its Gold that holds the upper hand because of the star power.

Satyamev Jayate will have tobe super strong in content to have any chance in front of Gold.

The likely scenario will be one real winner and one loser or two under performers though they can give the industry major hope that clashes can happen and go on to do 225-250 crore nett between them even in non festival period but that would be biggest and chances are very slim.

Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham : The International Phenomenon

Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham was released during Eid 2001 and it smashed all opening records across the world for an Indian movie.

In UK it actually featured among the top three openers of the week including all Hollywood releases.

Despite skepticism in the trade as to whether it will work outside big centres, the film opened to around 7 crore nett collections on its first weekend (a figure which only 5-6 films till then had managed in the whole week) in India with the week finishing around 14.38 crore nett.

The domestic opening week collections were 70% higher than the previous record and never before had opening records been smashed by such big margins, infact even till now opening records have never been smashed by such huge margins.

In Delhi city its opening week collections were touching 2.5 crore nett while the previous record was just 1.10 crore nett and it was five years later that any film got close to 2 crore nett in Delhi city again.

Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham also set record new records for second and third week business by grossing 10.50 crore nett and 8 crore nett respectively.

It went on to be The Highest Grossing Indian Film Of All Time Worldwide beating Gadar Ek Prem Katha which released 6 months before.

Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham also found a place in Top Three Domestic Grossers of All Time and the second biggest Grosser of 2001.

In the Overseas it was a sensation and is still probably the biggest hit ever in the Overseas market even though films today are crossing $30-40 million while Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham did around $9 million in 2001. The big difference is print count, Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham release on around 125 prints while today films are releasing on 8-9 times more prints and in many more territories. Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham is one of the true Worldwide All Time Blockbusters of Hindi cinema. For the Overseas market it is what Sholay is to the Domestic market.