The first Bollywood film that made Rs 100 crore worldwide was released 41 years ago, and its massive earnings were due to its international success.
First 100-crore hit
The 100-crore club in Bollywood seems rather influential these days. With rising ticket prices and an increasing number of theatres, as well as wider global releases, it has become simpler for Indian films to earn Rs 100 crore at the box office. However, not long ago, this was regarded as the barometer of a film’s success. If you were asked which Indian film was the first to cross that threshold, you might respond with any SRK, Salman Khan, or Aamir Khan movie.
But what if we told you that the first Indian film to gross more than Rs 100 crores was released in 1982? That is correct! The 100-crore club was founded years before the Khans’ debut, when Karan Johar and Aditya Chopra were still in school. The film also did not star the reigning superstar of the time, Amitabh Bachchan. It also lacked a south megastar like Rajinikanth or Kamal Haasan.
The movie was called Disco Dancer, and Mithun Chakraborty and composer Bappi Lahiri were its stars, respectively. The musical blockbuster, which was directed by Babbar Subhash, starred Mithun as Anil aka Jimmy, a street performer who becomes a disco star. Kim, Rajesh Khanna, and Om Puri appeared in the movie in supporting roles. It became a sensation thanks to Bappi Lahiri’s chart-topping songs, earning Rs 6.40 crore domestically. While this is a sizable sum, it falls far short of the biggest hits of the year, such as Vidhaata (Rs 14 crore) and Namak Halaal (Rs 12 crore).
Overseas performance
However, Disco Dancer only experienced a significant gain in one foreign country. The movie was a craze in Soviet Russia. It broke box office records when it came out in the nation in 1984, becoming the biggest hit ever, selling 12 crore tickets for an estimated gross earning of 60 million roubles (roughly Rs 94.28 crore). The worldwide revenue for Disco Dancer now stands at Rs. 100.68 crore.
Disco Dancer’s popularity in Russia was so great that it held the record for the highest-grossing Indian movie abroad for over 25 years before My Name is Khan, starring Shah Rukh Khan, overtook it with over Rs 100 crore in foreign box office receipts. But no Indian movie managed to completely dominate a foreign market like Disco Dancer did all those years ago until Dangal’s success in China in 2016.
After establishing the 100-crore club in 1984, Disco Dancer was its only member for ten years before Hum Aapke Hain Kaun joined. The Salman Khan-Madhuri Dixit-starring movie also surpassed the previous record holder for the highest Indian box office take. There are 107 Hindi films in the club as of June 2023, ranging from successes like Dangal to failures like Thugs of Hindostan. And it all began with Mithun’s revolution 39 years ago.
