The evergreen Indian classics still remain the biggest moneymakers in the history of the Indian box office even after a deep inflation adjustment has been made. Actually, the three highest-grossing Indian films of all time, even after an inflation adjustment, are the very same three epics that are from decades back, thus exhibiting the lasting power of legendary cinema.
Quite a number of them have been able to survive the barrier of time, and most of these mammoths of the past have been unbeaten, hence making them an integral part of the cultural memory of India. What is more, nine out of the top ten Indian films, whether by revenue or the number of tickets sold, are Bollywood productions, which indicates that the industry has been able to keep its masses fascinated.
It is quite an informative fact that not more than nine recent blockbusters have been able to come close to the monumental records of Sholay, which is a film that is over forty years old. Most films that have sold the largest number of tickets are three productions from the 1950s and 1960s, then there is a ten-year silence, followed by the coming back of mainstream cinema in the late ‘80s and ‘90s period.
Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! (1994) is still a marvel. This Bollywood film hit the jackpot after the liberalisation era and can be regarded as the biggest Bollywood film of all time. It was a cultural marathon and changed the whole Indian wedding and family film scene. With the direction of Sooraj Barjatya and the playing of Salman Khan alongside Madhuri Dixit, it became the very first Hindi film to cross the ₹100 crore mark, today equivalent to ₹1,753 crore.
Its impact was not limited to the film only, as it also made the purple saree of Madhuri and the sangeet ceremony the vogue all over the country. Actually, the movie played a critical role in the revival of the Indian middle-class habit of going to the cinema. The theatres saw a 40% increase in the number of people coming to watch movies within two years after its release, which clearly shows the extent of its impact on society.
Mother India (1957) directed by Mehboob Khan and starring Nargis is considered the greatest of all time. With the original box office gross of ₹8 crore, it would bring in close to ₹2,000 crore today if the tickets sold were taken into account, over 100 million sold. At the same time, the film was a very strong allegory for the India after independence and also a loud testament to Nargis as the country's moral anchor.
On a modest ₹60 lakh budget, it made a 650% profit and became the first Indian film to get an Academy Award nomination, thus, earning both the critics' and the audience's love and respect.
Mughal-e-Azam (1960) by K. Asif is the ultimate example of luxury that one could dream of. It is said that when the money earned without any adjustment is adjusted for the period between 1960 and 2020, the yield is roughly between ₹2,062 and ₹4,000 crore. The movie is said to have sold over 150 million tickets.
Asif spared no money: the famous “Pyar Kiya To Darna Kya” scene alone cost ₹1 crore, and for the flashy Sheesh Mahal, it took two whole years and Belgian glass had to be imported. A frenzy was sparked by its release after 16 years of production, black-market tickets were going for as high as ₹100 (around ₹9,000 today), and for three years, it was sold out at the Maratha Mandir of Mumbai.
Referred to as the representative of contemporary Indian film industry, Baahubali 2: The Conclusion (2017) is the only one that can be compared with these all-time greats. It is said that the S.S. Rajamouli-directed epic made a whopping ₹1,429 crore without any adjustments (inflation-adjusted to ₹2,423 crore) and sold around 110 million tickets. The question on everyone’s lips, “Why did Kattappa kill Baahubali?”, was the reason not only for the massive ticket sales but also for the almost incessant pop-culture conversation, which included everything from social media to brand advertising.”
At the very top is Sholay (1975), the biggest blockbuster of Indian cinema ever.
Ramesh Sippy's direction led to 125 million tickets being sold, with a gross (adjusted for inflation) of ₹2,864 to ₹3,200 crore. The film was initially met with negative reviews, but it quickly gained popularity and eventually became a phenomenon. Its famous lines were even adopted as a part of the everyday language.
The characters Jai, Veeru, and Gabbar Singh, for example, became the most popular characters and archetypes, and for five years, the Minerva theater in Mumbai showed the film continuously, a record that has not yet been broken.
These works, to begin with, may be just colloquially termed as box office giants, Mughal-e-Azam’s luxurious spectacle, Sholay’s emotional appeal, or Baahubali’s grandeur, for instance, but they are actually the pillars of the indestructible Indian cinema legacy.
Their legacies confirm that true cinematic greatness is beyond the reach of time, inflation, and trends from one generation to another.
