Do stars lead films to do a business of Rs. 100 crores and more? Or does content? Or is it content plus stars that help a film gross that number?
In the wake of Munjya’s success, here are 5 other Hindi films to make Rs. 100 crores minus stars
Admittedly, a 100-crore collection figure had lost its erstwhile importance with films collecting Rs. 300 to 500 crores and beyond. But amidst the plethora of films, that do not connect with viewers today, its importance is back in a way. For even big-budget films like Maidaan or Chandu Champion have failed to make the grade at the ticket counters.
And now, it is clear that films need not have a star (or more) to click big-time with the audience, Munjya stars Sharvari Wagh, who may be a Yash Raj protégé but is not a big name and newcomer Abhay Verma. What’s more, the entertainer, a part of Dinesh Vijan’s Horror Comedy Universe, has a CGI (Computer Graphics)-generated villain in the title-role. (21 years ago, Koi…Mil Gaya had an alien protagonist shown as Jadoo, but it was a human being in a costume that had played that key role in the blockbuster).
Here are the other five star-less 100-crore-making films and their USPs.
Grand Masti (2013)
The sex-comedy sequel to Masti saw three actors who were far from stars but were recognized actors, as leading men—Aftab Shivdasani, Vivek Oberoi and Riteish Deshmukh. Six bimbettes were teamed with them in this madcap mirthquake: Marathi actress Sonalee Kulkarni, TV star Karishma Tanna in her film debut, Brazilian actress Bruna Abdalah, Manjari Fadnnis, Kainaat Arora and Maryam Zakaria. Directed by Indra Kumar, its USP lay in the steamy script by Milap Zaveri and Tushar Hiranandani, which led everyone from old couples, groups of even middle-aged or elderly men and women to teenagers flocking the theatres!
Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety (2018)
Even if Kartik Aaryan had tasted success with the Pyaar Ka Punchama franchise, it took this saga of romance and unflinching friendship to make him have his first whopper hit and start his journey on the road to popularity. With him were his three colleagues from that franchise—co-stars Nushrratt Bharuccha and Sunny Singh, again no stars, and director Luv Ranjan. The freshness of the plot and its twist and the breezy entertainment pulled in the crowds.
The Kashmir Files (2022)
The biggest of the non-star high grossers, The Kashmir Files’ biggest star was its character artiste who was no longer a crowd-puller—Mithun Chakraborty. Shedding focus on a lesser-known part of 1990s Indian history, this docu-drama connected with the masses—and how! After being released in 630 screens, its count shot up to 4000 in the following week despite widespread criticism of the content, which filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri stressed was documented on audio and video tapes. It went to do a lifetime nett collection of over Rs. 252 crores on a slender budget of Rs. 20 crores or so!
The Kerala Story (2023)
Another film that resonated with the people but was panned again as a propaganda film, The Kerala Story, featuring Adah Sharma, was marketed as a true story about Hindu and Christian women in Kerala being forcibly converted to Islam. It netted Rs. 242.20 crores despite a poor performance in the South, again on a slender production budget of Rs. 20 crores.
URI—The Surgical Strike (2019)
The dramatized recount of India’s thundering reply to Pakistan’s barbaric act of butchering sleeping Indian soldiers in Uri featured Vicky Kaushal and Yami Gautam. Budgeted at Rs 25 crores, it collected Rs. 245.36 crores and was the biggest hit of 2019 on a return on investment parameter. The country cheered and supported this story of how a “new India” hit back at enemy terrorism in a way that prompted our neighboring nation to actually deny this befitting reply India gave to it!
The 100-Crore Pan-Indian club
The Hindi 100-crore ‘club’ is now 109 films old, with 9 more being South Indian films that have scored in collecting that much revenue and more in the theatres in their Hindi versions alone. Bahubali 2—The Conclusion (2017), with its (Hindi) nett collection of Rs. 510.99 crores leads this august list and is said to have made Prabhas a ‘Pan-Indian’ star, which he has since attempted with more movies (Saaho, Adipurush, Salaar: Part 1—Ceasefire and now Kalki 2898 AD all feature in this list, though, production-budget-wise, not all are successful with their Hindi collections) and traversing Indian cinema as a whole.
Yash of KGF2 (Rs. 434.70 crores) also had the potential but does not seem to have any interest in going Pan-Indian. Neither does Allu Arjun, except for Pushpa: Part 1—The Rule’s sequel. And Ram Charan and NTR Jr. too do not seem to have pan-Indian ambitions after RRR (Rs. 273.90 crores).
And so, technically, the Bahubali franchise, KGF 2 (despite Sanjay Dutt as villain, whose presence was not really blazed or promoted) and Pushpa—The Rise: Part 1 can also be considered ‘star-less’ 100-crore grossers!
The conclusion
These movies stress the point that solid content is the only answer to the slipping box-office performances of Hindi cinema, especially since lockdown ended and economic priorities changed for the common man. Stars are incidental and budgets can be strictly regulated instead of a mammoth chunk going to stars whose presence alone offers no guarantee of ‘on par’ returns.
It is also not necessary that a film has a huge budget and spectacular scale to march triumphantly at the box office. And technical excellence (as seen in URI—The Surgical Strike) can be achieved with reasonable cost when other expenses are kept in strict control. The story should connect with the masses, and that is an axiom followed as much by a Sholay in 1975, an Animal in 2023 and with a star-less Rattan in 1944. And the returns can vindicate sensible budgeting, even spiraling the profit margin.
Munjya has shown the way: the Rs. 30 crores Hindi film has crossed Rs. 100 crores in less than a month.
Also Read: Sharvari Wagh celebrates Munjya success; says, “Being the Rs. 100 crore girl definitely has a nice ring to it”
More Pages: Munjya Box Office Collection
, Munjya Movie Review
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