Worth their weight in Gold Series
Gold Standard
It is the eternal debate: which are the biggest films of all time?
If you were to go by box-office collections, the list would be dominated by very recent films like 3 Idiots, Bodyguard, Dabaang, Ready, Ghajini, Golmaal 3 and Singham – all of which have crossed the Rs 100-crore mark in domestic collections.
‘Not fair!’ some would protest. The large numbers chalked up by these films represent the devaluation of money or, in other words, inflation. Earlier films may seem to have lower numbers, but if there was some way of measuring apples-to-apples by taking inflation out of the picture, then the pecking order would be quite different.
Fair point. But the million-dollar question, quite literally, is how do you arrive at an objective measure to create a level playing field to compare films across eras? The official inflation rates are ridden with weaknesses – for one, they are based on the wholesale prices, rather than the more appropriate consumer prices; second, the-powers-that-be keep changing the algorithm. No wonder, announcements of official estimates of inflation are more often than not subject to subsequent revisions.
So if we can’t use the official inflation rates, then we are back to square one – how, and with what, do you compare a Mughal- E-Azam to a Sholay to a DDLJ to a 3 Idiots to a Bodyguard?
In this week’s issue, which releases in the afterglow of the festive season of Diwali, we have tried to compare films of different eras using a commodity that has been used as a bankable and valued currency since time immemorial and is the object (and also the motivation!) of worship as we pray to the Goddess Lakshmi to bless with prosperity at Diwali – Gold!
Check out our very interesting number-crunching on major films over the last five decades using the relative price of gold in different years to arrive at a hypothetical current value of box-office collections of past films.
Without giving the suspense away, I must say that the results of the ‘gold test’ are very startling indeed. And while the utility of this academic exercise is largely, well, academic, it does give credence to the adage – Old is Gold!
Happy Diwali and Happy Reading!
| Top 50 Film of Last 50 Years | |||||
| No. | Year | Movie | NBOC | Value of Gold at the time of Film’s release | Box Office Value of the Film in today’s time |
| 1 | 1960 | Mughal E Azam | 5,50,00,000 | 119.00 | 12,34,95,79,832 |
| 2 | 1961 | Ganga Jamuna | 3,50,00,000 | 127.00 | 7,36,37,79,528 |
| 3 | 1975 | Sholay | 15,00,00,000 | 545.00 | 7,35,12,95,831 |
| 4 | 1964 | Sangam | 4,00,00,000 | 149.00 | 7,17,31,54,362 |
| 5 | 1963 | Mere Mehboob | 3,00,00,000 | 141.00 | 5,68,51,06,383 |
| 6 | 1970 | Johny Mera Naam | 4,00,00,000 | 185.00 | 5,77,85,46,713 |
| 7 | 1967 | Upkar | 3,50,00,000 | 171.00 | 5,46,90,05,848 |
| 8 | 1969 | Aradhana | 3,50,00,000 | 180.00 | 5,19,55,55,556 |
| 9 | 1965 | Waqt | 3,00,00,000 | 157.00 | 5,10,57,32,484 |
| 10 | 1968 | Aankhen | 3,25,00,000 | 176.00 | 4,93,40,90,909 |
| 11 | 1969 | Do Raaste | 3,25,00,000 | 180.00 | 4,82,44,44,444 |
| 12 | 1965 | Jab Jab Phool Khile | 2,75,00,000 | 157.00 | 4,68,02,54,777 |
| 13 | 1971 | Haathi Mera Saathi | 3,50,00,000 | 200.00 | 4,67,22,62,190 |
| 14 | 1966 | Phool Aur Patthar | 2,75,00,000 | 163.00 | 4,50,79,75,460 |
| 15 | 1967 | Ram Aur Shyam | 2,75,00,000 | 171.00 | 4,29,70,76,023 |
| 16 | 1966 | Suraj | 2,50,00,000 | 163.00 | 4,09,81,59,509 |
| 17 | 2001 | Gadar Ek Prem Katha | 70,00,00,000 | 4,579.00 | 4,08,46,27,614 |
| 18 | 1964 | Ayee Milan Ki Bela | 2,25,00,000 | 149.00 | 4,03,48,99,329 |
| 19 | 1971 | Mera Gaon Mera Desh | 3,00,00,000 | 200.00 | 4,00,47,96,163 |
| 20 | 1973 | Bobby | 5,50,00,000 | 369.00 | 3,97,90,97,284 |
| 21 | 1970 | Sachaa Jhutha | 2,75,00,000 | 185.00 | 3,97,27,50,865 |
| 22 | 1960 | Barsaat Ki Raat | 1,75,00,000 | 119.00 | 3,92,94,11,765 |
| 23 | 1967 | Farz | 2,50,00,000 | 171.00 | 3,90,64,32,749 |
| 24 | 1965 | Himalay Ki God Mein | 2,25,00,000 | 157.00 | 3,82,92,99,363 |
| 25 | 1994 | Hum Aap Ke Hain Kaun | 65,00,00,000 | 4,667.00 | 3,72,12,57,103 |
| 26 | 1969 | Ek Phool Do Mali | 2,50,00,000 | 180.00 | 3,71,11,11,111 |
| 27 | 1966 | Mera Saaya | 2,25,00,000 | 163.00 | 3,68,83,43,558 |
| 28 | 1961 | Junglee | 1,75,00,000 | 127.00 | 3,68,18,89,764 |
| 29 | 1971 | Dushman | 2,75,00,000 | 200.00 | 3,67,10,63,149 |
| 30 | 1970 | Aan Milo Sajna | 2,50,00,000 | 185.00 | 3,61,15,91,696 |
| 31 | 1964 | Dosti | 2,00,00,000 | 149.00 | 3,58,65,77,181 |
| 32 | 1972 | Seeta Aur Geeta | 3,25,00,000 | 243.00 | 3,57,99,97,526 |
| 33 | 1967 | Hamraaz | 2,25,00,000 | 171.00 | 3,51,57,89,474 |
| 34 | 2009 | 3 Idiots | 2,02,50,00,000 | 15,864.00 | 3,41,07,41,301 |
| 35 | 1965 | Arzoo | 2,00,00,000 | 157.00 | 3,40,38,21,656 |
| 36 | 1963 | Taj Mahal | 1,75,00,000 | 141.00 | 3,31,63,12,057 |
| 37 | 1972 | Pakeezah | 3,00,00,000 | 243.00 | 3,30,46,13,101 |
| 38 | 1966 | Teesri Manzil | 2,00,00,000 | 163.00 | 3,27,85,27,607 |
| 39 | 1970 | Purab Aur Paschim | 2,25,00,000 | 185.00 | 3,25,04,32,526 |
| 40 | 1977 | Amar Akbar Anthony | 7,50,00,000 | 638.00 | 3,14,14,10,500 |
| 41 | 1964 | Ziddi | 1,75,00,000 | 149.00 | 3,13,82,55,034 |
| 42 | 1998 | Kuch Kuch Hota Hai | 50,00,00,000 | 4,268.00 | 3,13,02,71,790 |
| 43 | 1995 | Dilwale Dulhaniyan Le Jayenge | 58,00,00,000 | 4,958.00 | 3,12,60,28,724 |
| 44 | 1967 | Shagird | 2,00,00,000 | 171.00 | 3,12,51,46,199 |
| 45 | 1968 | Do Kaliyan | 2,00,00,000 | 176.00 | 3,03,63,63,636 |
| 46 | 1971 | Maryada | 2,25,00,000 | 200.00 | 3,00,35,97,122 |
| 47 | 1962 | Bees Saal Baad | 1,50,00,000 | 134.00 | 2,99,10,44,776 |
| 48 | 1965 | Guide | 1,75,00,000 | 157.00 | 2,97,83,43,949 |
| 49 | 1969 | Prince | 2,00,00,000 | 180.00 | 2,96,88,88,889 |
| 50 | 1970 | Jeevan Mrityu | 2,00,00,000 | 185.00 | 2,88,92,73,356 |
