India’s first film to earn Rs 1 crore, was made for Rs.., even Pushpa 2 fails to beat it, not Sholay, Mughal-e-Azam, the film is…

Interestingly, the film was black and white and became the first one to earn Rs 1 crore at the box office. Surprising right? Scroll down to read the name and the cast of the film.

Whenever we talk about blockbuster movies, then there are a bunch of films which often come to our mind such as Sholay, Mughal-e-Azam, Pushpa 2: The Rule, Dangal, and 3 Idiots. However, do you know, even before these movies, there exited a film which broke all the records and set a benchmark for the next movies in line? Interestingly, the film was black and white and became the first one to earn Rs 1 crore at the box office. Surprising right? Scroll down to read the name and the cast of the film.

Released in 1943, the movie in discussion is Gyan Mukherjee’s Kismet. The movie featured Ashok Kumar, Mumtaz Shanti, and Shah Nawaz in lead roles. The movie was a tremendous hit, and it scripted history in the world of cinema. The movie came when the audience loved the concept of good heroes. However, Kismet became the first film which had an actor with a grey shade. Ashok Kumar portrayed a charismatic pickpocket and thief, a character navigating the fine line between right and wrong.

In the movie, actor Ashok Kumar played the role of that charming thief, who was hard to resist. The storyline of the movie was highly unconventional for that era. The makers went all out to make a bold theme in Indian cinema for the very first time. The movie is also about a girl who gets pregnant even before tying the knot.

The 40s were the era where shattering the shackles of patriarchy and preconceived notions was extremely tough. At that time, movies with such a theme only had two roads – One, either they would turn out to be a hit or second, they become extremely flop. However, Kismet took the first road and became a huge hit. The film’s success was so remarkable that it was later remade in Tamil and Telugu.

Although Kismet faced criticism, the movie still managed to rake mollahs during the 40s. Made on a budget of Rs 2 lakh, Kismet collected Rs 1 crore and became the first Indian movie to earn Rs 1 crore. The film had a footfall of 3.5 crores, surpassing today’s generation films like (2 crores), 3 Idiots (3.2 crores), Dhoom 3 (3.4 crore), and Ghajini (2.4 crore).

Do you know that this film was up in Kolkata’s Roxy Cinema for a straight 184-week, making it a historic run? Further, the movie earned over Rs 12 lakh nett from a single cinema hall. The movie also holds the record of the highest-grossing Indian film for six years.