Did you know Amitabh Bachchan is the only actor in the history of Indian cinema to have delivered the top 4 box office hits in a single year?

To say Amitabh Bachchan has been one of the biggest box-office draws in the history of Indian cinema would be a massive understatement. The superstar was literally the most dominant forces across all Indian film industries and languages between the mid 70s and mid 80s, so much so that his exploits became known across the globe, leading to legendary French Director Francois Truffaut labelling him as a 'One-Man Industry'. In fact, there are some box office records set by Amitabh Bachchan that have never been broken or even emulated despite the presence of equally big stars after him, and in all probability, those records may yet stand for all eternity. Take for instance this one monumental feat which no one has achieved before or after the Big B...

Back in 1978, post the release of masterpieces like Sholay, Deewar, Hera Pheri (the Prakash Mehra directorial, not the Priyadarshan one), Amar Akbar Anthony, Parvarish and Khoon Pasina in the years that preceded it, the craze for Amitabh Bachchan was unmated in Bollywood – the closest anybody has come to repeating it to this day is Shah Rukh Khan's in the late 90s. Riding on that wave of mass hysteria, Amitabh Bachchan had as many as six releases in 1978 – Muqaddar Ka Sikandar, Trishul, Don, Kasme Vaade, Ganga Ki Saugand and Besharam – with the first four ending up as the year's top four highest grossing movies. Not before or since has any actor in all of Indian cinema achieved this gargantuan box office feat.

Here are the box office collections and verdicts of all six of Amitabh Bachchan's movies release in 1978...

Muqaddar Ka Sikandar (rank 1) - Rs. 8.50 crore nett [Verdict: All-Time Blockbuster]
Trishul (rank 2) - Rs. 5.50 crore nett [Verdict: Superhit]
Don (rank 3) - Rs. 3.50 crore nett [Verdict: Hit]
Kasme Vaade (rank 4) - Rs. 2.60 crore nett [Verdict: Hit]
Ganga Ki Saugand (rank 8) - Rs. 2.30 crore nett [Verdict: Above Average]
Besharam (rank 21) - Rs. 1.35 crore nett [Verdict: Average]

Will this particular box office record of Amitabh Bachchan ever be broken? We're willing to put our money where our mouth is and emphatically say “NO”!

About the Author

Russel D'Silva

Senior sub-editor, film critic, trade analyst, anchor, host of 'Masterclass' and 'Throwback Tadka' at BollywoodLife

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