Highest-Grossing Indian Film Earned ₹4000 Crore When Adjusted For Inflation; It’s Not Sholay, Dangal, Baahubali, Or RRR
The average ticket price in India at the cinema was ₹130 for 2023. In big chains like PVR INOX, the figure was close to twice as much.
No wonder a film selling 1 crore tickets today earns exponentially more than films selling five times as many tickets 20 years ago. Inflation has ensured that. That is why the list of highest-grossing films is always dominated by recent releases. Case in point: All the top 10 highest-grossing Indian films have been released in the last 10 years.
That is why adjusting films’ gross earnings to account for inflation is the only possible way to ascertain their relative ‘hitness’. If we do that to some of the biggest blockbusters in Indian cinema history, the tag of ‘highest grossing Indian film’ moves from Dangal to a classic that ‘earned’ ₹3650 crore.
Highest-grossing Indian film when adjusted for inflation
Mughal-e-Azam, the epic period drama from K Asif, is one of India’s most loved and successful films. Back when it was released in theatres in 1960, the film had earned ₹11 crore worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing Indian film then. Given that the average ticket price in that era was less than a rupee, this was a gargantuan figure. If adjusted for inflation for 2024, the figure would be a massive ₹4000 crore. Mughal-e-Azam is estimated to have sold over 15 crore tickets worldwide during its run, an unthinkable number today (Jawan sold 5 crore in comparison). The craze for the film was so high that some tickets at Mumbai’s Maratha Mandir were sold in black for as high as ₹100 (as high as ₹9000 today).
The average ticket price in India at the cinema was ₹130 for 2023. In big chains like PVR INOX, the figure was close to twice as much.
No wonder a film selling 1 crore tickets today earns exponentially more than films selling five times as many tickets 20 years ago. Inflation has ensured that. That is why the list of highest-grossing films is always dominated by recent releases. Case in point: All the top 10 highest-grossing Indian films have been released in the last 10 years.
That is why adjusting films’ gross earnings to account for inflation is the only possible way to ascertain their relative ‘hitness’. If we do that to some of the biggest blockbusters in Indian cinema history, the tag of ‘highest grossing Indian film’ moves from Dangal to a classic that ‘earned’ ₹3650 crore.
Highest-grossing Indian film when adjusted for inflation
Mughal-e-Azam, the epic period drama from K Asif, is one of India’s most loved and successful films. Back when it was released in theatres in 1960, the film had earned ₹11 crore worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing Indian film then. Given that the average ticket price in that era was less than a rupee, this was a gargantuan figure. If adjusted for inflation for 2024, the figure would be a massive ₹4000 crore. Mughal-e-Azam is estimated to have sold over 15 crore tickets worldwide during its run, an unthinkable number today (Jawan sold 5 crore in comparison). The craze for the film was so high that some tickets at Mumbai’s Maratha Mandir were sold in black for as high as ₹100 (as high as ₹9000 today).