JOIN OUR WHATSAPP CHANNEL
Box Office In 2023 Terms: Salman Khan's films from THIS year are now cummulatively worth over Rs 1300 crores
When adjusted for inflation, even a flop film of Salman Khan in 1999 would have netted around Rs. 150 cr, domestically.
Box office collections of Hindi films have been tracked ever since the big screen movie going culture was commercialised in the country. Movies are a huge part of our culture and are often a reflection of our society as a whole. With changing times, the consumption pattern of movies have changed and a lot has got to do with the movie ticket prices and multiple avenues to consume content. We talk about films grossing Rs 100 cr, Rs 200 cr, Rs 300 cr and even Rs 500 cr domestically in today's times, but we often tend to be less aware of how big the movies were, back in the days. In this analytical segment, we will be discussing how commercially big a film would have been in today's time, when adjusted for inflation and also based on other factors. In this piece in particular, we will be focusing on Salman Khan films from 1999, namely Biwi No. 1, Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Hello Brother and Hum Saath Saath Hai.
Salman Khan Has Held His Fortress For Over Three Decades
Salman Khan is one of the most loved actors the country has ever produced. The actor has been in the movie business for three and a half decades and still commands a solid fan following. Touted as one of the country's greatest crowdpullers, the actor will be gracing the silver screens twice this year with his films Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan and Tiger 3. In his decades long career, the actor has been a part of some of the country's biggest hits, with a few of them becoming trendsetters. Salman Khan had a memorable 1999 with a total of four releases. Three of the four films went on to hit the bulls-eye at the box office with incredible theatrical results. One of the four films could not succeed but it is quite shocking that the film, when adjusted for ticket rates of 2023, would have comfortably netted Rs. 150 cr if not more.
Year 1999 Was Incredible For Salman Khan As He Enjoyed Three Major Box Office Successes
Today, we shall discuss about a very interesting ticketing year for Salman Khan - 1999. The actor had four theatrical releases in the form of Biwi No. 1, Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Hello Brother and Hum Saath Saath Hai. Hum Saath Saath Hai emerged as the biggest hit of the year. Biwi No. 1 and Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam were very big hits and Hello Brother was declared a flop. In total, his films were able to sell a shy less than 7.5 crore tickets, which is among the highest for an actor in a single year. Hello Brother, which was a flop at the box office, interestingly sold more tickets than all the Bollywood releases in the year 2022, barring the top 3 grossers, The Kashmir Files, Drishyam 2 and Brahmastra.
The Cummulative Adjusted Nett Business For Salman Khan's 1999 Films Stand At Over Rs. 1300 Crores
Hum Saath Saath Hai sold around 2.85 crore tickets at the box office, which when converted to 2023 ticket prices, gives a nett figure of over Rs. 500 cr. To put things into perspective, only one film in the Hindi circuit, and that too a dubbed pan-India film Bahubali 2 has achieved that number at the Indian box office and no other film. In today's time where collections hold so much importance and relevance, a number like this would surely be mindboggling for many. Biwi No. 1 almost had around 2 crore ticket sales which amounts to over Rs. 350 crores in today's terms. Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam was another big hit, especially in the big cities and that film would have netted over Rs 300 crores, purely with respect to the tickets sold. Lastly, Hello Brother, which was a theatrical flop would have fetched a number in the north of Rs. 130 crore nett, had it released today, in the same conditions as in 1999.
How Is The Theatrical Market Of 1999 Different From 2023?
This comparitive study only shows that the standard of films to perform at the box office were so high that even films able to sell around 1 crore tickets were termed flops. Of course there are many factors to determine the verdict of the film, in most cases the rights at which they are sold at, but the fact remains that the benchmark or the thresholds were way higher than what they are now.
The difference between then and now is that back in the 90s, one didn't have many different ways to watch movies. Theatre going experience was what was given paramount importance and attention. Also, the ticket prices were well in sync with monthly earnings and thus it was very affordable for an average moviegoer to purchase tickets and that too on a regular basis. Low ticket prices meant more families watching films while it is now reduced majorly to youth, in today's time. Also, films are available very easily on digital platforms and since there is exposure of superior international content, it becomes all the more difficult to woo the audience and convince them to visit theatres. There is an audience to watch films in theatres but they only turn up for big event films or accepted films. Content that doesn't appeal to a wide range of audiences often finds its audience digitally because it is not just more affordable but also more readily available.
What's Next For Salman Khan?
One can't say if all these films would have been as big hits as they were back in the days because many things have changed since then. But we can easily deduce that movie going wasn't a luxury as it is now. As about Salman Khan, he will be gracing the silver screens twice this year with his Eid and Diwali releases Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan and Tiger 3 respectively.
Latest Articles
