All-time Bollywood Earners

Ghajini Aamir Khan's Ghajini is breaking box-office records in almost all possible ways. The film had one of the biggest box-office openings possible in the country. To garner opening collections as big as Rs 7 crores which is almost four times the biggest opening for any Bollywood film is an achievement in itself. Add to it the film has collected a worldwide gross of Rs 200 crores in just 2 weeks which clearly slots Ghajini in the list of all time blockbusters. No wonder Ghajini happens to be the first film to celebrate its second success party. In times of global recession when films are not even in a position to celebrate a single success party, this Aamir Khan film just goes one step ahead. With the blockbuster success of Ghajini, we speak about the other top Bollywood blockbusters of all time. Mother India – India's first Oscar nomination Not many might be aware that Mehboob Khan's Mother India (1957) was a remake of his earlier black-and-white film called Aurat (1940). As he added colours to Mother India narrating the basic turmoil of the Indian farmer, the film fascinated one and all with its touching drama and towering performances from the cast comprising Nargis, Sunil Dutt, Rajendra Kumar and Raj Kumar, all of who went on to become big stars. Mother India was a huge crowd-puller and was also the first Indian film nominated at the Oscars. Mughal-e-Azam – 14 years in the making This historical indeed created history in ways more than one. The film was in making for as long as 14 years but despite that never lost its sheen when released in 1960. The production values were grand with magnanimous war scenes and royal sets. Mughal-e-Azam happens to be one of the few films that lived up to its hype. Word is that the current booking never opened for weeks since tickets were sold in advance. Cine-goers used to queue outside Bombay's Maratha Mandir theatre for weeks to catch this majestic movie. At times when film budgets would never hit the million mark, Mughal-E-Azam was made at a huge budget of Rs 1.5 crores and went on to collect much more. Sholay – 6 years uninterrupted run The name Sholay is synonymous with super-success. Almost anybody and everybody who has little knowledge about Bollywood would know the film Sholay and its success story. Ironically this blockbuster didn't get a big opening when released on 15 August 1975 but picked up soon and then there was no looking back. The dialogues of Sholay are still fresh in audience mind and so are the characters from the hero to even the villain's sidekick. The film ran for 4 uninterrupted years in Mumbai's Minerva theatre and continued for 2 more years in the matinee show. Hum Aapke Hai Kaun...! – released only with 4 prints It took a couple of decades for any film to come close to being a blockbuster success. Like Sholay, Hum Aapke Hai Kaun wasn't a huge opener since the film released only with 4 prints across Mumbai. But this is one of those rare films that picked up with positive word of mouth and whole families thronged to theatres with the comeback of the family drama. Even Sooraj Barjatya might not have estimated that his film would do such huge business at the box-office. Hum Aapke Hai Kaun...! ran for years at Mumbai's Liberty cinema.