Fact-O-Meter: THIS Ashok Kumar’s Film Was The First To Cross 1 Crore Mark In The Indian Box Office History

Keeping up with our fad for BO, we are kick-starting the new section 'Fact-O-Meter' to feed you with some interesting facts.

By
Koimoi.com Team
- May 4, 2020 | 4:49 PM IST
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Team Koimoi has always tried to keep their readers, especially the box office enthusiasts, updated with some interesting and latest stuff. Coming to box office, recently we started with the Bollywood grossers’ chart and filmometer and it garnered a tremendous response from our beloved audience. So, keeping up with our fad for BO, we are kick-starting the new section ‘Fact-O-Meter’ to feed you with some interesting facts.

In the very first piece of Fact-O-Meter, we’ll be taking a look at the first Indian film to cross the collections of 1 crore at the ticket windows. Thanks to the well-tuned system of trade experts and social media, we are well aware of the first 100 crore grosser (Ghajini), first 200 crore grosser (3 Idiots), first 300 crore grosser (PK) and vice versa. But do you know, which was the first Bollywood movie, in fact, first Indian movie to cross the 1 crore mark at the ticket windows? Read on.

Indian cinema got its first 1 crore grosser in the form of Ashok Kumar’s Kismet that released in 1943 and it was made on a budget of 2 lakhs approx. It is also considered to be the first blockbuster in Indian history. Directed by Gyan Mukherjee, the film was produced under the banner of Bombay Talkies. It also featured Mumtaz Shanti, Shah Nawaz and Mehmood in key roles. The film went onto creating rage and one of the major reasons was a song titled ‘Dur hato duniyawalo, Hindustan hamaara hai’ (Go away foreigners, Hindustan is ours). Also, Mahatma Gandhi’s Quit India Movement provided a boost to film’s theatrical run as people used to flock theatre just to see the song.

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Interestingly, the censor board missed out on the song while passing the film. But as the song started gaining popularity, the lyricist Kavi Pradeep went underground as arrest orders were issued against him by Britishers.

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