First Quarter Bollywood Hits At The Box Office

While the first 2 months of 2010 have been dismal with megabudget losers in My Name Is Khan (100 crore cost, 57 crore theatrical recovery), Veer (50 crore cost, over 50% losses) and some lower budget fares like Rann, Karthik Calling Karthik, Teen Patti, Chance Pe Dance etc.; and March doesn't look too overwhelming either outside of perhaps Athithi Tum Kab Jaoge (Ajay Devgan, Paresh Rawal), it is helpful to note that first quarter of a year in box office generally doesn't produce epic blockbusters. The biggest hits of the year typically release in late summer in August or from the Diwali to December period. Nonetheless there have been some films that have broken the trends and been blockbusters in the first quarter of the calendar years. Let's revisit some of them:

Jan 24, 1975 - DEEWAR - This Amitabh Bachchan action starrer opened 100% in Bombay that January with net collections of Rs. 8,16,351 (100%) with an average of around 40k per print, and eventually did a business of over a crore in Bombay territory. From May 1973 when Zanjeer released to Jan 1975, Amitabh Bachchan was in the first phase of his industry altering run, giving one hit after the other. Abhiman, Namak Haram, Kasauti, Benaam, Majboor, Roti Kapda aur Makaan. But Deewar was the big one that made him No. 1. Though Yash Chopra has been directing films for over half a century, Deewar along with Trishul 3 years later in 1978 remain the only films directed by Yash Chopra that have had a 100+ week run. Rest from Veer Zaara (2004) down to Dharamputra (1959) were all golden jubilees to silver jubilees to average runners to flops. Ticket prices in 1975 in Bombay were around Rs. 3. Ticket prices in 2010 in some Bombay theaters are Rs. 300. Factoring in ticket rates at multiplexes and single screens, Deewar converts to a Rs. 350-400 crore grosser in India today. As such, not just for Yash Chopra, DEEWAR remains the biggest first quarter hit for Bollywood history over the last 40 years.

Feb 23, 1981 - KRANTI - This was a mother of multistarrers with nearly half the film industry in it. Manoj Kumar was its director, producer, and hero. The film also had Dilip Kumar in a character role along with Shatrughan Sinha, and Shashi Kapoor, and Parveen Babi and Hema Malini. It did business of Rs. 1.5 crore/territory which was huge in those days and it got billed 'junior sholay'. Later on in the same year, a solo Amitabh starrer called LAAWARIS outcollected Kranti by itself; as 1981 emerged a bumper year for box office. But through first quarter of 1981, Kranti was a major blockbuster story of its year after a relatively sober 1980 for the industry. Kranti opened to Rs. 8,54,671 in Bombay in 1981.

Jan 13, 1995 - KARAN ARJUN - This Rakesh Roshan film starring top two actors of 1990s: Salman Khan and Shahrukh Khan got a record opening as it was sandwiched between the #1 hit of 1990s (Hum Aapke Hain Kaun) and the #2 (Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge). Karan Arjun opened to Rs. 38,64,490 off 15 prints in Bombay for a 99% opening its opening week and netted over 30 crores. At today's ticket rates its gross would be around Rs. 275 crores in India.

March 12, 1976 - DUS NUMBRI - Manoj Kumar may be the most underrated star at the box office as he has starred in some epic blockbusters by himself. Upkar in 1967. Purab aur Paschim in 1970. Roti Kapda aur Makaan in 1974 and the above referred Kranti. But in 1976, he had a major blockbuster releasing in first quarter of 1976 in the form of Dus Numbri opposite the then superstar actress, Hema Malini. The film was a bigger hit than Amitabh Bachchan's Kabhi Kabhi and Dharmendra's Charas even though the latter too starred Hema Malini.

Feb 4, 1972 - PAAKEEZAH - This Meena Kumari film took years to make and flopped commercially at first upon release at first in February. But Meena Kumari died in March a few weeks later, and subsequently audiences started rushing to the theaters, and Pakeezah became an eventual super hit. It costarred Raj Kumar and Ashok Kumar.

Jan 14, 2000 - KAHO NA PYAAR HAI - This release marked debut for actor Hrithik Roshan. The film released sandwiched between Shahrukh Khan's Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani and Aamir Khan's Mela. While the latter two flopped, KNPH went on to make golden jubilee. KNPH would be about a Rs 220 crore grosser today, a bigger than every hit of last year except for 3 Idiots.

Some other notable hits of the first quarter in Bollywood include: Naagin (Jan 1976, Sunil Dutt-Feroz Khan-Rekha), Sargam (Jan 1979, Jaya Prada), Kabhi Kabhi (Mar 1976, Amitabh-Rakhee), Rang De Basanti (Jan 2006, Aamir Khan), Vishwanath (Jan 1978, Shatrughan Sinha), Guru (Jan 2007, Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai) and Ram Lakhan (Jan 1989, Anil Kapoor-Jackie Shroff-Madhuri Dixit).

Source: IBOS Network