Aamir Khan – The Undisputed Box Office King

It has not been easy for Aamir Khan, for he never was the mega ‘superstar’ that he is today. The 90’s were dominated by the likes of Shahrukh Khan and Salman Khan. Aamir crawled his

way, all along concentrating on quality and content, to slowly make it to the top league and now beyond!

The last decade, after classics like Lagaan and Dil Chahta Hai, Aamir took a 4-5 year long break due to marital issues and other personal problems. He returned with Mangal Pandey which didn’t do too well at the box office. Soon after, many in the media and trade wrote him off.

Aamir stopped giving interviews and never really promoted the commercially risky ‘Rang De Basanti’ – a film that not many would even risk after ‘Mangal Pandey’. The movie went on to do great business, soon after which Aamir returned with the record breaking Fanaa. He then decided to take up direction and directed the brilliant Taare Zameen Par and the rest, including the historic business of Ghajini, is now history.

Aamir Khan - Anushka Sharma PK

But no one in their wildest of dreams would have thought 3 Idiots would come close to Ghajini, leave alone beat the 116 crore record. The film not only went on to do record-breaking business, but became the first film to cross Rs 200 crore in India and Rs 350 crore worldwide – unimaginable for any film during those days.

After the historic success of 3 Idiots, Aamir decided to do yet another off-beat film, with little or no commercial appeal outside multiplexes in cities. A supernatural mystery thriller, no less. The response was mixed, as many returned home disappointed with the fact that Kareena Kapoor was in fact a ghost!

Then came yet another box office monster, Dhoom 3, which went on to be the highest grosser of all time collecting Rs 284 crore in India. The first film to cross the 250 crore mark. Dhoom 3 not only smashed every record in sight in the domestic markets, but also created records overseas – markets that were previously dominated by Shahrukh Khan for decades, now had a new competitor, who could not only challenge him, but also beat him.

A few days prior to the release of PK, we spoke to several distributors and trade experts. Most believed that the film would just about manage to cross the 200 crore mark, while most thought the film had absolutely no chance of crossing the universal success of Dhoom 3. On December 19th, the day PK released, the Rajkumar Hirani film took a much slower opening as compared to Dhoom 3. However, the response (read word-of-mouth) was so good, that the film came into its own in its first weekend itself. PK has now become the first film to collect Rs 300 crore in India and will soon become the first to gross 600 crore worldwide.

Aamir Khan has set the benchmark so high, that it would take nothing less than a miracle for other stars like Shahrukh Khan, Salman Khan, Hrithik Roshan and Ranbir Kapoor to match. There are expectations that Bhajrangi Bhaijaan could challenge PK next year, and Shahrukh Khan’s film with Rohit Shetty – if it does release during Christmas – could also have a chance if the word-of-mouth is good. But for now, realistically, the only records that the others will be chasing will be the opening day and weekend. Like 3 Idiots, PK has raised the bar so high, that there are fears that it will take another 4 years for any other film to come close.

Box office milestones

  • First 50 crore film – Salman Khan and Sooraj Barjatya (Hum Aapke Hai Kaun)
  • First 100 crore film – Aamir Khan and A.R. Murugadoss (Ghajini)
  • First 150 crore film – Aamir Khan and Rajkumar Hirani (3 Idiots)
  • First 200 crore film – Aamir Khan and Rajkumar Hirani (3 Idiots)
  • First 250 crore film – Aamir Khan and Vijay Krishna Acharya (Dhoom 3)
  • First 300 crore film – Aamir Khan and Rajkumar Hirani (PK)
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122 Comments

  • What is ‘Common’ thing in Ghajini,3 I,D:3 and PK?Its ‘Christmas Period’…Aamir without Christmas-Disasters like Dhobi Ghat and Talaash…..

  • If dhoom 3 had similar word of mouth it would have done 400 crores !! Anyway it’s a massive achievement. Mr aamir khan

  • TRUE LIVING LEGEND IN BOLLYWOOD !!

    AAMIR KHAN #1 SUPERSTAR … THIS ALL MUST ACCEPT…

    AAMIR KHAN BEST ACTOR OF THE YEAR AND THE DECADE ALSO….

  • AAMIR KHAN CARRER ANALYSIS

    BLOCKBUSTERS
    1 QSQT
    2 RAJA HINDUSTAANI
    3 TAARE ZAAMEN PAR
    4 GHAJINI
    5 3 IDIOTS
    6 DHOOM3
    7 PK

    SUPERHITS
    1 JO JEETA WOHI SIKANDAR
    2 RANGEELA
    3 DIL HAI KI MANTAA NAHI
    4 LAAGAN
    5 FANAA
    6 RANG DE BASANTI

    HITS
    1 ISHQ
    2 HUM HAI RAAHI PYAR KE
    3 DIL
    4 GHULAM
    5 DIL CHAHTA HAI

    SEMI HITS
    1 SARFAROSH
    2 TAALASH

    TOTAL NUMBER OF SUCCESSFUL FILMS-20

    TOTAL RELEASES-39

    SUCCESS RATE-51.5%

    SUCCESS RATE SINCE 2001-82.5%

    NO. OF FILMFARE BEST FILM AWARD WINNING FILMS-8

    ALSO TOOK INDIA TO OSCARS ABD HAS ACTED IN 8 NATIONAL AWARD WINNING FILMS

    CREATOR OF 100,200,250 AND NOW 300cr CLUB AT THE BOX OFFICE

    #RESPECT THE LEGEND

  • You are right indicine !! He is on the peak of his stardom and Salman/SRK are lagging behind with a huge margin. No doubt, he is a fine actor, but his script selection also helped him a lot. When others were running behind collections and were trying to save their no. 1 spot, he was silently looking into the best scripts. He waits for the a right time, he gives time to himself and this is what works in his favor. But glad to see, his hard work paid him off !!!

    P.S. I have been observing since a while , many IDs similar to my name (e.g. Gautam,goutam,gowtham) are roaming around . Its my sincere request to the readers of indicine that please verify the spelling,case etc because they might be one among the aforementioned IDs.
    And they are making such comments, which is not mine point of view. For an instance, some “Gautam” made a comment that Amir creates history and no one else can break his record, he only competes with himself. Those are not my words and I can’t write like that even my dream.
    This race is open and with every new movie , records are meant to broken (though I personally feel that again it will take some time to break this 300 cr record, just like 3 idiots) .
    Sorry for irritating you all by posting this comment again and again but its really important for me to clarify these points to avoid any further complications.
    Thanks !

  • I agree with @ Indicine In 90’s he was not as popular as SRK and Salman . But in this decade he has really been a game changer . If we look at all factors such as Brilliant movies, Fabulous performances, Critical acclaim, Box Office success and love of the audiences . So respect for Aamir from the bottom of my heart . Although PK is not the best film of 2014 according to me but is definitely a good movie . When a good movie breaks records you don’t feel bad this is my same feeling . Aamir Rocks !!!!!!

  • aamir is the king of king , he rules boxoffice but most importantly he is the greatest actor of this generation.

  • The lifetime total of PK wont be broken for the next few years- it will be a near impossible- near 100cr weekend openings will soon become a common feat for all biggies in the years to come but maintaining the pace in weekdays going into second weekend will be the hardest task- WOM has to be strong- next few yrs I reckon Sooraj Barjatyas next, Srk + Shettys next and Hrithiks next may stand a chance if they appeal to masses and classes alike…! Tough task but if not these three then we may just have to wait for Aamirs next which wont arrive until 2017 at the earliest- no Aamir movie in next 2 yrs I reckon- thats a sad reality….!

  • Just for Fun,no offence to srk fans..
    Don’t worry srk fans,our king also opened
    205crs club
    210crs club
    215crs club
    220crs club
    225crs club

  • Aamir khan is gr8 , but one shd not underestimate the magic of raj Kumar hirani

    I would say the difference between dhoom 3 n PK is hirani

    The leap from 280 cr to 350 cr

    N here’s a prediction

    Record of PK will be broken by next hirani movie only

  • Aamir is now undisputed box office king coz his movies collections are also huge in weekdays also not only weekend

  • Congrats Aamir and Aamir fans!

    But @Chameleon Arjun Kapor Fan,You are busy gaining support for Tevar,but Salmir fans won’t watch it..so stop wasting energy.

  • ya aamir is undisputed king of Bollywood….
    we remember aamir n Salman for long long time…
    king of king aamir is super king….

  • Box office king means whose movies does good in long run and has highest grosser and aamir khan is the only superstar whose movie is doing record collections after first week like ghajini;3 idiots; dhoom3 and now PK

  • aamir and salman are having boxoffice milestones.our king has no boxoffice milestones even with 3.7billion fans.

  • great article. Would love to see an article on Raju Hirani. No more a Rajkumar. He is the Badshah of Box office!

  • now srk fans thinking that combo of srk n rohit will break record of pk…but 1 thing I want to tell u…
    rohit movies r just one time watch… no repeat value….so movie will not break even d3..
    I think prdp has a Big chance to beat pk….or may be shuddhi….

  • Congrats Amir and Pk teams.

    Now Amir took the place of Salman to compete with SRK.

    Here on wards the competition will be between SRK and amir.

    Sallu and HR will compete for 3rd Place

  • ha ha ha, funny post. If SRK not reject films like lagaan, range d basanti and 3 idiots, what happend aamir khan’s carrior?

  • The mainstream bollywood producers believe audience is plain dumb. Recently saw Masand’s Producers Roundtable where Karan Johar said, “We need to empower writers” And this guy makes rubbish films like Student of the Year.

    Aamir Khan has been a part of parallel-yet-mainstream cinema for over a decade and I still believe he shouldn’t be compared with SRK and Salman. They are commercial superstars who charm their respective fanbase with the product their fans love. Other wise a terrific Swades, off beat Paheli, unusual Khamoshi would have done well.

    Aamir Khan has a recall value. I had forgot about him after Dil Chahta Hai when he took a sabbatical, and suddenly I recalled, “Oh, this man had made terrific movies like Lagaan and DCH” when I saw the poster of Rang De. What has worked for him is the perfect balance of art and commerce.

    Yes Srk has done some great movies but the ratio is quite less. Aamir takes a lot of time to release one movie which makes his movies highly anticipated!

  • Pk collection is great..difficult to achieve. ..if u want to call him biggest superstar then call him…but I bet anyone…he cant make crap movies like kick or hany 200 grosser…..for currently biggest crowd pullers are salman n srk n then aamir….

  • 2014 was good for sallu n aamir but no for other stars…
    pk – all time blockbuster
    kick – blockbuster…
    only 2 movie got this verdict…
    in 2013
    d3 – all time blockbuster
    ashiqui 2, yjhd, ce, k3 were blockbuster…
    hope 2015 will bigger than 13 n 14…

  • For giving this kind of collection you have to tie up with the biggest brand and biggest director….Dhoom brand and Raju Hirani…with the amount of stardom the Khans have if they unite with this kind of mega brands and director then it would be huge history.

  • Next Aamir is thinking of tieing up with Shankar for Robot 2….So may be another record is on making.

  • Aamir Khan is top because of Dhoom brand and Raju Hirani. PK is Hirani’s weakest film and OMG is much better, but people wanted to see 3 idiots team again so everyone watched. Real super stardom is judged by opening and not content or word of mouth. Salman bhai is number one.

  • aamir is making records after records but our king is busy paying money to maratha mandir owners to run ddlg for 2000 weeks.

  • best article indicine you speak from bottom of your heart fact is Aamir is undisputed king in every department even haters will have no problemme accepting this.THANKYOU VERY MUCH INDICINE.

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