India's most-watched film was a flop, now has 100 crore views: How a ₹7 crore film beat Sholay, Mughal-e-Azam, Baahubali

This film was a box office bomb, earning only ₹12 crore in theatres, but has still racked up a billion views since.

It is said that Sholay - arguably the biggest hit in the history of Indian cinema - sold over 20 crore tickets in its various runs in India, and millions more overseas. It is estimated that this feat would make it the most-watched Indian film ever. And it may have been true for a long time. But the advent of cable TV and the internet changed the game for cinema. Now, viewership is also measured in TRPS, streaming minutes, and YouTube views. And this has made a box office bomb the most-watched Indian film in history, quite unexpectedly.

Anupam Kher and Kader Khan played supporting role in the 'Sholay of TV'.

India's most-watched film

To anyone who has browsed Sony MAX or been on YouTube, it should come as no surprise that Amitabh Bachchan's cult film Sooryavansham holds the honour of being India's most-watched film. Directed by EVV Satyanarayana, the film starred Bachchan alongside Soundarya, Jayasudha, Rachna Banerjee, Anupam Kher, and Kader Khan. Released in 1999, Sooryavansham was a box office disappointment, grossing only ₹12.65 crore worldwide and not even breaking even. It sold less than 40 lakh tickets in India, an underwhelming number.

Amitabh Bachchan's Sooryavansham has become a cult hit over the years.

But it then had its satellite premiere on Sony MAX (then called SET MAX). In the 25 years since, Sooryavansham has had countless re-runs on the channel. The BARC data showed that as late as 2017, Sooryavansham re-runs were getting as high as 4.4 million impressions (meaning it was being watched in 44 lakh households). Estimates about the film's TV viewership vary, but experts say they have to be at least 25-30 crore, maybe even higher. The film is also available on Amazon Prime Video, adding a few million minutes from there too.

But the bulk of Sooryavansham's record-breaking views come from YouTube. The film has been officially uploaded - in full - on the platform by Goldmines Entertainment (which holds its YouTube rights). Goldmines has uploaded the film on three different channels, with a combined 701 million (70 crore) views. This gives the Amitabh Bachchan film an estimated 100 crore views across platforms. Just how impressive this number is can be gauged by the fact that Sholay has just 2 million views on YouTube, while DDLJ has under a million. Baahubali: The Beginning, which also has a cult following, does better with a combined 20 million views on YouTube. But none come close to Sooryavansham.

About Sooryavansham

A remake of the 1997 Tamil film Surya Vamsam, the 1999 release was made on a budget of ₹7 crore. Revolving around a traditional father and his illiterate yet obedient son (both played by Bachchan), the film opened to mixed reviews but bombed at the box office. Over the years, it has gained a cult following, with its reruns featuring in the top 5 of most-watched films on TV every time for two decades. In the internet era, the film has also become part of pop culture, giving memes that have expanded its reach to a newer generation.