Ashok Kumar Hit The First Major Box Office Milestone In The History Of Indian Cinema! ( Photo Credit – YouTube )
It was in 1993 that Shah Rukh Khan’s Darr re-established the era of antiheroes in Bollywood films. For those who do not remember, there came a time in Indian Cinema when the main lead was a man with grey shades or totally negative traits. But do you know that it was our very own Dada Muni, aka Ashok Kumar, who was the first antihero of Bollywood?
Yes, you read it right! Dada Muni, in his career, delivered many box office milestones, and one of those milestones is starring in the first anti-hero film of Bollywood. It was Kismet in 1943 that starred Dada Muni as the anti-hero. The film, interestingly, crossed the first milestone of Hindi Cinema!
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First Box Office Milestone Of Bollywood – 1 Crore!
Kismet was the first Bollywood film to cross the 1 crore milestone at the box office. Directed by Gyan Mukherjee, the film was also one of the first blockbusters of Indian Cinema. The box office record of Ashok Kumar‘s film stood unbroken until Raj Kapoor’s Barsaat arrived in the theaters.
Ashok Kumar ruled the box office with 1 crore lifetime collection of Kismet. This was the highest-grossing film for 6 years, and then it was Raj Kapoor‘s Barsaat that broke the record. Kismet is said to be made on a budget of only 2 lakh! The film churned out a profit of a whopping 4900%.
Where To Watch Kismet
Rated 7.3 on IMDb, the official synopsis of Kismet says, “When Shekhar comes to know that Rani became disabled because of him, he decides to help her by hiding his real identity.” The film stars Mumtaz Shanti and Shah Nawaz along with Ashok Kumar and is available on YouTube and ErosNow.
Note: Box office numbers are based on estimates and various sources. Numbers have not been independently verified by Koimoi.
