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Jawan, Pathaan, Gadar 2 enter the ₹500 crore club: Is ₹500 crore, the new ₹100 crore club?
With three films this year itself crossing the magical 500 crore mark at the box office- is 100 crore no longer the benchmark for upcoming films? We explore.
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The year was 2008, when Aamir Khan’s Ghajini shocked the industry by kickstarting the 100 crore club. No one knew such a figure was possible for our films up until then, but along came another film by the actor-3 Idiots. This film further showed people that even 200 crore was possible domestically.
Of course, after that every big film was judged on whether it crossed these benchmarks or not. But 2023 has changed that- Pathaan, Gadar 2 and now Jawan have crossed the 500 crore mark. The bar is so high, that chatter has begun about which film will be the next entrant in this elite club. Ranbir Animal, Tiger 3, Dunki and Salaar are probables.
ANYTHING LESS THAN 500 IS BAD?
But what if any of them falls short of the magical 500 figure- will it be a ‘lesser hit’ at even 400 crores? Trade analyst Taran Adarsh agrees to the former, “It is definitely the new 100 crore, because 100 is no longer the yardstick. I can understand for a smaller film that figure is big, whose budgets are minimal. But for biggies, 100 crore is a cakewalk, it happens in the first weekend itself. The 100 crore benchmark was applicable 10 years ago, it has now shifted to 500.”
BUDGET DECIDES HIT OR FLOP
But fans and people, who are always pitting films against each other if one doesn’t cross the other’s collections, need to understand: a film is not merely a success on the basis of it’s box office crore clubs. A film made on a cost of say, ₹10 crores, can earn even ₹50 crores, and be declared a superhit.
Explaining how, producer Ramesh Taurani shares, “It depends on the cost of the film, and who is starring in it. If it’s a big star cast, then definitely the pressure is there. A Dream Girl 2 is a hit, so is Fukrey 3, even when they haven’t touched 500 crores. Every film works on it’s merit, ultimately what matters is return on investment.”
Devang Sampat, chief executive officer, Cinepolis Cinemas, also agrees with Taurani. “I think Pathaan, Jawan and Gadar 2 were exceptions. Blockbusters are becoming bigger and bigger. India has great potential, but I will not say 500 is the new 100. Those are big numbers, but there are films not touching that mark, yet being blockbusters on their own. This year itself has been an exception. But the balance isn’t there yet- either there are films performing this well, or not performing at all. Also, upcoming films have no pressure on them to achieve these humongous numbers,” he asserts.
Murad Khetani, who is producing Animal also believes it is just fans who consider these clubs as a benchmark. “The reality is that the budget decides,” he ends.
