Neither Sholay, nor Mughal-e-Azam, nor Hum Aapke Hain, India’s first film, which earned 100 crores, 12 CRs sold tickets

Last update:February 13, 2025, 06:31 IST

Till 1984, the highest -grossing Indian film was the iconic ‘Sholay’, which grossed Rs 30 crore worldwide. But this film made that figure three times.

The film defeated Sholay by this film.

New Delhi. Today, it has become common in Indian cinema to get a box office collection of Rs 100 crore. But do you know which Bollywood film first touched this milestone? This is a matter of era when neither technology nor resources used to be so special. If there is talk of films with 100 crores clubs, then films like ‘Ghajini’ and ‘3 Idiots’ have come in the 2000s. Who crossed this figure in terms of domestic net collection.

Do you know that earlier there were some Indian films, which had crossed the 100 crore mark with international earnings. Interestingly, the first Bollywood film which achieved this feat was released in the 1980s.

Disco superstar was made ‘Jimmy’ from the street singer
The film is none other than Babbar Subhash, ‘Disco Dancer’, which was a musical blockbuster. This film gave Mithun Chakraborty a special identity, Mithun was in such a way that even today people are known as ‘Jimmy’ among the people. Which becomes a disco superstar from a road raid singer.

‘Disco Dancer’ made Mithun Chakraborty a ‘grandfather of Bollywood’.

All the records of earning were broken abroad
After release, the disco dancer performed well at the Indian box office and earned more than Rs 6 crore. However, its foreign earnings actually set records, especially in the Soviet Union, where it gained tremendous popularity. On release in Russia in 1984, it earned around 60 million rubles (about 94.28 crores). The film was then sold 12 million tickets. The film’s earnings across the world reached about 100.68 crores.

‘Sholay’ surpassed in 1984
As of 1984, the highest -grossing Indian film was ‘Sholay’, which grossed Rs 30 crore worldwide. The ‘Disco Dancer’ tripled this figure and maintained this record for almost a decade, until ‘Hum Aapke Hain Kaun’ did not cross it.

‘Sholay’ became the highest grossing Indian film of 1975. The makers spent about 3 crore rupees to make this film. At the same time, the film succeeded in earning a total of 30 crores at the worldwide box office.

No one could compete with Gemini in this case
This milestone made Mithun Chakraborty the first Indian actor to act in a film that grossed Rs 100 crore. Even veteran stars like Amitabh Bachchan did not reach this figure and three Bollywood mines could not achieve it till the next decade.

Disco-style tunes made the world crazy
The film had actors like Rajesh Khanna, Kim Yashpal and Om Puri, but its real attraction was its music, which was composed by Bappi Lahiri. His unique disco-style tunes mesmerized the audience around the world.

Mithun Chakraborty also became famous overnight through this film. After this film, his career got a new height. Then gradually he continued to settle in the hearts of people with his dancing style.

Cult classic is still considered today
Despite being the newly fledged actor, the disco dancer became a stunning blockbuster. Mithun was not an A-list star till then, Rajesh Khanna’s stardom started fading and Kim Yashpal was a new actress. Nevertheless, this film left a permanent impact on Bollywood and is still considered a Cult Classic.