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The Hindi film industry, popularly christened as Bollywood, is one of the largest film production centers in the world. The first feature film produced in India was the Dadasaheb Phalke directed silent black-and-white film Raja Harishchandra, which was released in 1913. With time, the industry expanded and the number of films produced kept increasing throughout the 1920s and 1930s. With expansion, newer technologies were introduced including the use of sound and later color. Alam Ara was India's first sound film, while Kisan Kanya was India's first color film (incidentally, both are directed by the same person). Introduction of these technologies significantly shaped the style of Indian film-making, as the advent of sound popularized musicals and song-and-dance sequences, making them an integral part of Indian films. The industry did face problems during the 1930s because of independence movements and international wars. The 1940s, 1950s and 1960s are often called the "golden years" of Bollywood. Films received much critical appreciation all over the world. Several notable cinematic figures such as Guru Dutt, Raj Kapoor and Bimal Roy were active during these years and were instrumental in developing the industry. Mehboob Khan's Mother India received universal acclaim and became India's first feature film to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film; till date, it is one of only three Bollywood films (Salaam Bombay! and Lagaan) to share that honor. Other Bollywood films from the era were screened in major film festivals across the world, and some of them won major prizes as well. Parallel cinema also emerged during this time, and gained momentum later on after a "hibernation" phase.

Beginning with the 1940s, Bollywood films also saw major commercial success, and several box office milestones were breached. As the popularity of cinema spread, theatrical revenue kept increasing. The 1943 Gyan Mukherjee-directed Kismet became the first Bollywood film to cross the ₹1 crore mark. Subsequently, more films breached the ₹1 crore mark until Shree 420 breached the ₹2 crore mark for the first time. Beginning with the 1960s and particularly 1970s, Bollywood films achieved major commercial success more regularly, and the revenue earned multiplied manifold throughout this period (a trend that continued into the 1990s); Sholay (1975) earned triple the amount that the previous record-holder Mughal-e-Azam (1960) earned, while Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! (1994) more than quadrupled Sholay's record. Post the "dark phase" of the 1980s, business increased tremendously as is visible from the major success of films like Hum Aapke Hain Koun..!, Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge and Gadar: Ek Prem Katha.

Initially, the success of a film was determined by box office longevity than revenue. However, due to increasing competition from television and the threat of piracy, and later the advent of alternative media, longevity of films decreased drastically and revenue became the focus of success. The revenue-earning pattern has become increasingly front-loaded over the years, and now most films depend only on first weekend/first week revenue to decide the fate of a film, a trend that has received widespread criticism from industry experts. This trend was further intensified after the multiplex boom in India following liberalization, which caused ticket prices and theatrical screening scope to increase. Since 2008, Bollywood films have started breaching the ₹100 crore mark consistently; Ghajini was the first Bollywood film to cross the mark. Considered a turning point in Bollywood, multiple films have breached that mark since then. Beginning with the 2000s (decade) and particularly 2010s, the release size and marketing efforts have increased rapidly to the extent that films can achieve the ₹100 crore mark in a single week, and the single-day full-capacity revenue can be ₹30 crore. Franchises have witnessed increasing popularity and several highly popular franchises such as Dhoom and Golmaal saw great success at the box office; additionally, each sequel has earned more than the previous film, making franchises a lucrative business proposal.

Below is a set of lists which track the records for highest-grossing films in India (by net figures, i.e. after tax reduction), highest opening days, highest opening weeks and also other specific lists. Since box office figures in India are not tracked strictly, figures from Box Office India are utilised; only extracts of lists are visible here for some of the lists due to copyright concerns. The original list showed the Top 30 films according to net revenue earned in India.

Background color       indicates films playing 23 January 2025 in theaters around the world

Biggest opening gross

Opening day nett gross

The following is an extract of the list of the top 10 Bollywood films, which have had the biggest opening day gross.

Single day nett gross

The following is an extract of the list of the top 10 Bollywood films, which have had the biggest single day gross.

Opening weekend nett gross (First 3 Days of Release)

The following is an extract of the list of the top 10 Bollywood films, which have had the biggest opening weekend nett gross.

Opening week nett gross (First 7 Days of Release)

The following is an extract of the list of the top 10 Bollywood films which have had the biggest opening week gross.

Highest worldwide opening

The following list is an extract of the list of the biggest worldwide debuts for Bollywood films.

Highest-grossing films by month

Given below is a list of the top three highest-grossing Bollywood films, ordered by the month of the year in which they released. For example, a film released on March 31 will be considered a March release, while a film released on April 1 will be considered an April release; despite the fact that for the former case, the major theatrical run of the film will be outside the release month.

The list is derived from a number of lists, box office reports and statistics, all published by Box Office India. The base list from which most of this list's ranking is derived from is available here, in the Lifetime grossers list. Specific lists and sources for the figures are available in the "Source List" column of the list; however, in this column, the lifetime grossers reference is not used. Note: Since this list, as with all the given lists in this page, are updated in real time, certain figures will not have a reference as proof of their figure; such a reference may be available a few months or perhaps even a year after the release.

Highest-grossing Bollywood films throughout history

The following is a list of Bollywood films, which have had the highest theatrical nett grosses (up to that time), according to BoxOffice India.com.

See also

• List of Bollywood highest-grossing films in overseas markets
• List of highest-grossing films
• Entertainment tax

References

1. "Raja Harishchandra (1913)". The New York Times. Retrieved February 22, 2012.
2. "TALKING IMAGES". The Sunday tribune. March 26, 2006. Retrieved February 22, 2012.
3. Gulzar; Nihalani, Govind; Chatterji, Saibal (2003). Encyclopaedia of Hindi Cinema. Encyclopaedia Britannica (India) Pvt Ltd. pp. 136–137. ISBN 81-7991-066-0.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
4. "Top Ten Opening Days". BoxOffice India.com. Retrieved 2012-06-01.
5. "Top 25 Opening Days All Time". BoxOffice India.com. Retrieved 2012-02-06.
6. "Top Single Days All Time". BoxOffice India.com. Retrieved 2012-02-06.
7. "Top 10 Opening Weekends - Rowdy Rathore 4th". BoxOffice India.com. Retrieved 2012-06-05.
8. "Top 30 Opening Weekends". BoxOffice India.com. Retrieved 2012-01-30.
9. "Top Opening Weeks All Time UPDATED". BoxOfficeIndia.com. Retrieved 2012-02-08.
10. "HOUSEFULL 2 Is Sixth Biggest Worldwide Opening Of All Time". Box Office India. April 11, 2012. Retrieved April 11, 2012.
11. ^ "Top Lifetime Nett Grossers All Time UPDATED 04/04/12". Box Office India. April 4, 2012. Retrieved April 15, 2012.
12. ^ "All India 2011". Box Office India. Retrieved April 15, 2012.
13. ^ "Box Office 2006". Box Office India. Retrieved April 15, 2012.
14. ^ "Box Office 2010". Box Office India. Retrieved April 15, 2012.
15. ^ "Box Office 2008". Box Office India. Retrieved April 15, 2012.
16. "Housefull 2 Week One Territorial Breakdown". Box Office India. Retrieved April 16, 2012.
17. "Housefull 2 Week Two Territorial Breakdown". Box Office India. April 23, 2012. Retrieved April 23, 2012.
18. "Housefull 2 Week Three Territorial Breakdown". Box Office India. April 30, 2012. Retrieved April 30, 2012.
19. "Ishaqzaade Week Four Collections". Box Office India. Retrieved June 16, 2012.
20. "Rowdy Rathore Is First BLOCKBUSTER Of 2012". 11 june 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
21. "Box Office 1994". Box Office India. Retrieved April 15, 2012.
22. ^ Cite error: The named reference nine was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
23. "Box Office 1995". Box Office India. Retrieved April 15, 2012.
24. "Box Office 2007". Box Office India. Retrieved April 15, 2012.

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v t e

• Bollywood
• Lists of highest-grossing films
• Lists of Indian films