2009 was an important year for the Bollywood industry. On one side, Aamir Khan was taking the industry to new heights, on the other hand, recession killed a considerable chunk of Box Office potential.
While Aamir Khan’s 3 Idiots single-handedly did a business of more than 200 crores in 2009, other films struggled to hit even 70 crores mark. Akshay Kumar made some wrong choices that year. His much-hyped film Chandni Chowk To China proved to be a Flop and other films De Dana Dan, Kambakkht Ishq & Blue also couldn’t do well considering their budgets.
Salman Khan was going through a tough phase already and he recovered a bit with the big success of Wanted. Although his Main Aur Mrs. Khanna was again a big Flop. Shah Rukh Khan and Hrithik Roshan had no film that year.
So overall it was a tough year because there was a lack of good content and the recession period was on. However, with the economic depression diluting by the end of 2009 and a high on content plus entertainment film like 3 Idiots releasing on a festival like Christmas, the audience went crazy and made it a historic hit.
Although Aamir Khan’s 2008 film Ghajini was the first one to hit 100 crores, the superstar broke that record in just 1 year by leaps and bounds.
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Let’s have a look at the Top 10 Bollywood grossers of 2009:
Note: Box office numbers are based on estimates and various sources. Numbers have not been independently verified by Koimoi.