PRDP biggest opener, Mother India Biggest Hit, SRK most Hits, all about Sunny Deol, Akshay Kumar, and Ajay Devgn releases —

Diwali box office records in Bollywood:

Diwali is the biggest festival of the year in India, and every year we have the biggest or one of the biggest films released on this festival weekend. In today’s time, the box office and verdicts have become more dependent on the opening day and weekend. It’s not like those old days and single-screen era when films used to celebrate silver jubilee and golden jubilee run in cinemas.

Talking about the opening records, many films have registered record-breaking numbers on Diwali. This festival has that one disadvantage of pre-Diwali and Laxmi Puja days falling on Friday/Thursday, making them look even worse than normal working days. However, the next day of Laxmi Puja, Govardhan Puja/Diwali Padwa, is the best day for collections as family audiences flock into cinema halls in large numbers. Looking at history, many films have registered the record-breaking opening days and single-day numbers on this day, while some have missedthose records due to Laxmi Puja. 

Shah Rukh Khan has ruled Diwali festivals with major and probably most number of hits like Baazigar (1993), Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995), Dil To Pagal Hai (1997), Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998), Mohabbatein (2000), Veer Zaara (2004), Don (2006), Om Shanti Om (2007), Ra. One (2011), Jab Tak Hai Jaan (2012), and Happy New Year (2014). Veer Zaara scored a record opening weekend, Happy New Year smashed the opening day record, Om Shanti Om missed the opening day record due to Laxmi puja and clash but scored the record opening weekend, whereas Ra. One had a huge hype but missed many records due to bad content.

Salman Khan has had Andaz Apna Apna (Flop but a cult classic), Hum Saath Saath Hain (Blockbuster), Kyu Ki (Flop, clash against Garam Masala), Jaan-E-Man (flop, clash against Don), Main Aur Mrs. Khanna (Disaster, clash against Blue and All The Best), Prem Ratan Dhan Payo (Hit), and Tiger 3 (Hit) as Diwali releases. Among this, PRDP scored a massive feat on opening day and crossed 40 lacs+ footfalls (achived by only 2 or 3 films to date, arguably, and two of them are Salman’s movies). With approx. 44-45 lacs tickets sold on day one, Salman Khan’s PRDP holds the record of the Biggest Diwali Opener of All Time! Aamir Khan’s Thugs of Hindostan crossed the nett and gross numbers of PRDP but not footfalls, and it is extremely unlikely that any film can do in the future unless you make a historic blockbuster like Bahubali 2.

Talking about one of the biggest of all-time, Nargin, Sunil Dutt, and Rajendra Kumar’s Mother India (1957), reigns supreme above all. This Mehboob Khan masterpiece is the biggest Diwali hit of all time with footfalls over 11 crore and also the biggest hit of all time in Indian cinema after Sholay (1975) and Mughal-e-Azam (1960). Amitabh Bachchan’s Muqaddar Ka Sikandar (1978) is one more huge blockbuster on Diwali and undoubtedly the biggest in the last 50 years. Big B’s sensational hit sold over 5 crore tickets, which no Diwali release has been able to achieve in the last 5 decades, and most likely it won’t happen in today’s digital, corporate boost, and PR-driven hits era.

Another 90s superstar, Ajay Devgn, has had many releases on Diwali for 3 decades. He has successful films like Jigar (1992)- Hit, Suhaag (1994)- Hit, Golmaal Returns (2008)- Hit, All The Best (2009)- Average, Golmaal 3 (2010)- Blockbuster, Son Of Sardaar (2012)- Hit, and Golmaal Again (2017)- Blockbuster, while Bedardii (1993)- Flop, Tera Mera Saath Rahen (2001)- Disaster, Shivaay (2016)- Below Average, Thank God (2022)- Disaster, couldn’t be successful.

Superstar Sunny Deol has scored a super hit like Ghatak (1996), while Aamir Khan has an All Time Blockbuster like Raja Hindustani in the same year. Aamir returned to Diwali in 2018 with Thugs of Hindustan, which scored a record opening but flopped in the long run. Before that, he played an extended cameo in Secret Superstar (2017), which was an average grosser in domestic market but emerged as one of the biggest Bollywood grossers worldwide after the China release. Andaz Apna Apna flopped but has gained a cult following over the years.

Speaking of Akshay Kumar, it’s a mixed bag for him. His Diwali hits include films like Suhaag (1994), Garam Masala (2005), Housefull 4 (2019), Sooryavanshi (2021), and an average grosser, Aitraaz (2004). His flops include Sapoot (1996), Blue (2009), Action Replayy (2010), and Ram Setu (2022).

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