Indian cinema has been one of the core pillars of Cinematic Arts worldwide and despite still being a rapidly growing industry, it has already made its mark everywhere and people flock to watch its products as evident by the gross earnings of the movies listed below.
1. Dangal (₹2,024 crores)
The 2016 Sports Drama loosely based on Indian wrestling siblings, Geeta and Babita Phogat was one of the most anticipated films of the year. A fantastic performance by Aamir Khan, outshined by even better performances by Zaira Wasim and Sanya Malhotra paired with an emotionally wrenching and inspirational plot makes this a must-watch for any cinema fan.
2. Baahubali 2: The Conclusion (₹1,810 crores)
S.S. Ramalouji’s much-anticipated sequel to the critically acclaimed Indian epic Baahubali: The Beginning did just as good as anyone could have imagined and all of it was well deserved for a movie that aimed to push Indian cinema and storytelling to its limits.
3. Bajrangi Bhaijaan (₹969.06 crores)
A cross-border tale of a man trying to get a little girl back to her home country makes for an interesting premise and a good execution guarantees success as was the case for Bajrangi Bhaijaan.
4. Secret Superstar (₹966.86 crores)
Aamir Khan’s next project following Dangal had all the hype trailing off Dangal’s success and it showed in gross earnings. Secret Superstar follows the story of a young girl trying to live her dreams and follows her journey of triumph under societal pressures.
5. PK (₹832 crores)
Another Aamir Khan flicks on the list and just as unique as the previous entries. PK follows the story of a stranded alien from outer space that journeys across India (no aliens in the USA this time) and explores the concept of religion and how it affects people. Minor controversies aside, the film did really well.
6. 2.0 (₹800 crores)
The sequel to Rajinikanth’s Enthiran doubled down on its star power bringing in Akshay Kumar into the fray as the primary antagonist in the film. A serviceable story at most, it’s the chemistry of Akshay and Rajinikanth that carries this film making for an entertaining albeit mediocre spectacle.
7. Baahubali: The Beginning (₹650 crores)
The first chapter of S.S. Rajamouli’s 2 part epic raised the bar for what Indian storytelling could be. With a charismatic protagonist at the helm, Rajamouli even pushes the boundaries of CGI in Indian cinema and the effort needs to be commemorated.
8. Sultan (₹623.33 crores)
A sports-action film spearheaded by Salman Khan. That’s it. You know why it did well.
9. Sanju (₹586.85 crores)
Sanju is a really well-made biopic on Sanjay Dutt and tells his life story starting from his teenage years. There was immense curiosity surrounding the gun controversy the film was set to cover and it did so fairly well. Whether it was true or not we’d never know, but it made for an entertaining piece.
10. Padmaavat (₹585 crores)
Perhaps the most controversial entry on this list. The film was constantly attacked by several Rajput caste organizations from the moment it was announced with multiple protests held by them. Film sets were vandalized, pyres were burnt and several caste members received death threats. Constant hurdles being presented forced the movie to be delayed by a month. Not all was negative however, it is in part thanks to the controversy surrounding it that people went to watch the movie in spite of the protests and Padmaavat managed to crack into this top 10.
