India's first horror film to earn Rs 200 crore, not Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2, Stree, Raaz, 1920, Chandramukhi

These days Bollywood is all about lifetime collection and Rs 100 crore, 200 crore, 300 crore, clubs. Shah Rukh Khan is currently the biggest star of Bollywood as ‘Ling Khan’ as he is fondly called has set several new records at the box-office with his last release Jawan. But this is not new as Bollywood films have been earning money at the box-office for decade now but earlier people do not use to talk so much about numbers. In this article we will talk about yesteryear superstar Madhubala and how he delivered the first horror blockbuster of India.

Madhubala was the first actress to deliver first horror blockbuster of the Hindi Cinema in 1949 and the film went on to earn Rs 200 crore (adjusted to inflation). Madhubala was just 15 at that time and the film was Mahal, which also starred Ashok Kumar in the lead role. Madhubala played the role of Kamini in the film which was Kamal Amrohi debut as a director.

Mahal was made on a budget of 9 lakh, which comes to around Rs 12-14 crore if adjusted according to the inflation. Mahal proved to be a blockbuster at the box-office and went on to earn Rs 1.25 crore at the box-office. In 1949, Mahal was the third highest-grossing film of India after Barsaat and Andaz. If we adjust the film’s earnings to today’s time then it would be more than Rs 200 crore. Mahal earned a huge profit of more than 1500%, which means it is the most profitable horror film in Bollywood.

Kamal Amrohi made the film at a time when Bombay Talkies was going through financial crisis and Amrohi used several props from his personal collection to save money.