India’s last biggest non-action blockbuster released 9 years ago, earned over ₹2,000 crore worldwide

Success of a film continues to be measured by its box office earnings, even when it fails to win over critics. Only a rare few films manage to strike a chord with both audiences and reviewers at the same time. There is one such rare Hindi film that not only captured hearts but also made a massive impact at the ticket window after earning raving reviews from critics.

In fact, it went on to become India’s most recent major blockbuster in the non-action genre.

Dangal

It is Aamir Khan's film Dangal.

Released in 2016, Dangal is a sport drama starring Khan with Fatima Sana Shaikh and Sanya Malhotra. Zaira Wasim, Suhani Bhatnagar, Sakshi Tanwar and Aparshakti Khurrana were also a part of the film as child actors.

The film focuses on the journey of Mahavir Singh Phogat, a wrestling amateur who trains his daughters Geeta Phogat and Babita Kumari to become India's first female wrestlers in a male dominating sport.

Helmed by Nitesh Tiwari, the film is produced by Aamir Khan and Kiran Rao under Aamir Khan Productions.

Dangal box office performance

Dangal saw a strong start at the domestic box office. As per industry tracker Sacnilk, the Khan-starrer earned ₹ ₹ 29.78 crore net in India and went on to grow over the coming days. The film was screened in Indian theatres for almost 2.5 months.

Internationally, Dangal gained even more success, which boosted its overall earnings across the world. It ruled the Chinese box office, becoming the highest-grossing non-English foreign film in China. The film's box office collection from China alone was ₹1305.29 crore, almost $ 203 million.

Sacnilk reported that Dangal's worldwide collection stood at ₹2,070.3 crore.

9 years of Dangal

Recently, the film marked its 9th release anniversary. It is the highest grossing film in Aamir Khan's career.

Meanwhile, Dangal remains one of the highest-grossing films in Indian cinema. It is often compared with recent hits. However, several newer blockbusters such as Dhurandhar (2025), Animal (2023), Chhaava (2025), Pathaan (2023), Padmaavat (2018), Pushpa 2: The Rule (2024), Baahubali 2: The Conclusion (2017), RRR, KGF Chapter 2 (2022) and Kalki 2898 AD (2024) fall under the action-entertainer category. This distinction further solidifies Dangal’s rare achievement as a non-action film that matched and even surpassed several successes at the box office.