Dhurandhar vs Bollywood classics: ‘Biggest Hindi movie' way behind films like Sholay, Mughal-E-Azam, DDLJ in numbers

Dhurandhar has become the biggest Hindi movie in India in terms of box office collection. However, it is still much smaller than Bollywood classics such as Sholay, Mughal-E-Azam and Mother India. Here’s why.

Dhurandhar’s India net collection is ₹836.95 crore while the India gross collection stands at ₹1,004 crore. With ₹299 crore from the overseas market, the worldwide collection is at a whopping ₹1,303 crore, according to Sacnilk.

Recent Bollywood movies have been pushing the limits since the COVID-19 pandemic. Shah Rukh Khan revived Bollywood with Pathaan ( ₹1,055 crore) and then Jawan ( ₹1,160 crore).

Ranbir Kapoor’s Animal ( ₹915 crore), horror comedy Stree 2 ( ₹857 crore), historical fiction Chhaava ( ₹808 crore), Sunny Deol’s Gadar 2 ( ₹686 crore) and even Saiyaara ( ₹570.33 crore) made a lot of noise at the box office.

However, while looking at the astronomical numbers of recent Bollywood films, we often ignore a significant factor: inflation. Sholay's box office collection was estimated to be ₹50 crore. According to the EZ Tax inflation calculator, it's now equal to ₹265 crore.

In 1960, Mughal-E-Azam earned ₹11 crore, which is equivalent to ₹74 crore in 2025. DDLJ's ₹102 crore in 1995 is ₹348 crore now.

Ticket prices

There were reports that Dhurandhar ticket prices reached as high as ₹2,400. Even ₹2,000 seats were apparently sold out online quickly.

The contrast with the past is striking. In 1972, Mumbai’s Diana Cinema sold stall tickets for Amar Prem at ₹1.35, and balcony seats at ₹2.40, according to Bollyy.

Back in 1995, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge tickets were sold in single-screen theatres for as low as ₹4.75. Even 10-12 years back, it was common in Tier 1 cities to have movie prices at ₹50-75.

It is unfair to compare box office collections. A more scientific approach is to compare footfalls.

Despite being the biggest Hindi movie of all time in India, Dhurandhar has crossed 4 crore footfalls in the domestic market. And, it is the 19th Indian film to do so, according to HT.

It is a big number when compared to recent films. Neither of Shah Rukh Khan’s recent blockbusters, Jawan (3.79 crore), Pathaan (3.49 crore), managed to do it. Nor did Gadar 2 (3.42 crore), Animal (3.30 crore), Stree 2 (3.25 crore) and Chhaava (3.10 crore).

The footfall factor

Let’s compare it to Ramesh Sippy’s Sholay. With about 12.73 crore viewers nationwide, the 1975 action thriller remains the top movie of all time, according to IMDb.

K. Asif’s Mughal-E-Azam (1960) follows with approximately 9.17 crore admissions. Similarly, Mehboob Khan’s Mother India (1957) generated around 8.89 crore footfalls. Sooraj R Barjatya’s Hum Aapke Hain Koun, starring Salman Khan and Madhuri Dixit, is the next movie with 7.79 crore footfalls.

Then, there was Nitin Bose’s Gunga Jumna (1961), starring Dilip Kumar and Vyjayanthimala. Way ahead of Dhurandhar, the movie had 6.36 crore footfalls.

The next movies are Manoj Kumar’s Kranti (6.15 crore), Prakash Mehra’s Muqaddar Ka Sikandar (6.07 crore), Raj Kapoor’s Sangam (5.71 crore), and BR Chopra’s Naya Daur (5.63 crore), all of which are ahead of Dhurandhar.

Aditya Chopra’s Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (5.56 crore), Manmohan Desai’s Amar Akbar Anthony (5.37 crore) and Anil Sharma’s Gadar: Ek Prem Katha (5.1 crore) are the Hindi films that crossed the 5-crore mark in footfalls.

Even Manmohan Desai’s Dharam Veer (4.91 crore), Manmohan Desai’s Coolie (4.8 crore), Raj Kapoor’s Bobby (4.78 crore), Bimal Roy’s Madhumati (4.7 crore), Raj Kapoor’s Shree 420 (4.69 crore), Harnam Singh Rawail’s Mere Mehboob (4.61 crore) and 1985 movie Mard (4.59 crore) were bigger than Aditya Dhar’s movie.

Subhash Ghai’s 1982 movie Vidhaata saw 4.57-crore footfalls. Sooraj R Barjatya’s Maine Pyar Kiya (4.48 crore), Raj Kapoor’s Ram Teri Ganga Maili (4.47 crore) and Manmohan Desai’s Naseeb (4.46 crore) were ahead of Dhurandhar.

Terms like Silver Jubilee (completing 25 consecutive weeks) and Golden Jubilee (completing 50 consecutive weeks) were common for earlier Bollywood movies. These days, even the most successful films do not run in theatres for more than 10-12 weeks. Then, makers go for its OTT release.