The first Indian film to earn Rs 100 crore worldwide was released way back in 1982 and had two superstars
The 100-crore club of Indian cinema came into existence as a marketing term a little under two decades ago. The stimulus was films like Om Shanti Om and Ghajini earning Rs 100 crore in net domestic box office collections, a feat never achieved before in Indian cinema. However, contrary to popular perception, none of these films was the first Rs 100-crore hit from India. That record belongs to a sleeper hit from the 80s, which was a sensation overseas.
India’s first Rs 100-crore hit
The 1982 release Disco Dancer broke box office records when it earned Rs 6 crore in India, followed by an unimaginable Rs 90-crore run in the Soviet Union. Eventually, after its run ended in 1984, the film had amassed over Rs 100 crore gross worldwide, breaking Sholay’s record to become the highest-grossing Indian film ever. It held that record until Hum Aapke Hain Koun surpassed it in 1994 and became India’s first Rs 200-crore hit. In fact, the domestic gross collections of the Sooraj Barjatya hit were over Rs 100 crore too. But Disco Dancer remains the first Indian film to gross Rs 100 crore. Directed by Babbar Subhash, the film starred Mithun Chakraborty, Rajesh Khanna, and Kim Yashpal.
Mithun Chakraborty in Disco Dancer
The expansion of the 100-crore club
The 100-crore club only includes films that have domestic net collections (after deducting entertainment tax) over Rs 100 crore. That is why Disco Dancer, Hum Aapke Hain Koun, and other hits like Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenga, Gadar, and Devdas don’t make the cut despite their worldwide gross being over Rs 100 crore. It was only after Ghajini surpassed the mark that the club was established. Since then, over 100 Indian films have repeated the feat. The first Telugu film to enter the club was SS Rajamouli’s Magadheera, followed by the Tamil film Enthiran, starring Rajinikanth. From Malayalam cinema, Mohanlal’s Pulimurugan was the first to breach the mark in 2016 while the first representative from Kannada cinema was Yash-starrer KGF Chapter 1 in 2018.
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 "Kim Yashpal in Disco Dancer")
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