Neither ‘Sholay’ nor ‘Awara’, this is India’s first blockbuster, a novice actor became a superstar, it was released before independence

New Delhi: The first Indian film to earn Rs 1 crore was released before the country’s independence. The concept of blockbuster started in India after the release of Gyan Mukherjee’s film. The film was a golden jubilee. We are talking about the film ‘Kismat’, which is the first Indian film to earn Rs 1 crore. The film achieved this feat at a time when it was difficult for a film to earn more than Rs 20-30 lakh. The trend changed after ‘Kismat’.

Stars like Ashok Kumar, Mumtaz Shanti and Shah Nawaz worked in the 1943 film ‘Kismet’. The film was bolder than its time, in which an unmarried girl is shown pregnant, which started the concept of anti-hero in cinema. Rs 2 lakh was spent in making the 1943 film ‘Kismet’, which earned Rs 1.6 crore from the box office worldwide.

Ashok Kumar became a superstar with just one film
In the early 1940s, Ashok Kumar was emerging like other young actors, but luck took him to the top of Hindi cinema. Many people consider Ashok Kumar as India’s first superstar. After the rise of stars like Dilip Kumar and Raj Kapoor, the tag of superstar was removed from his name.

‘Barsaat’ broke the record of ‘Kismat’
Kismet remained the highest grossing film for almost a decade. It faced a challenge from the Tamil film Chandralekha released in 1948, but it too could not break its record. Finally, it was broken by Raj Kapoor’s Barsaat, which earned Rs 2 crore in 1949. Kismet was more modern than its time. It gave Indian cinema the concept of the angry hero, who is not always morally correct. This concept later made Amitabh Bachchan and Shahrukh Khan superstars.

Tags: Bollywood films, Entertainment news.