2023 was a blockbuster year for Indian cinema, with mega hits like Jawan and Pathaan entering the Rs 600 crore club. In retrospect, crossing the Rs 100 crore mark domestically doesn’t seem like a big deal for acclaimed directors like SS Rajamouli, Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Rohit Shetty. However, such was not the case years ago. It was in 2008 when a blockbuster movie helmed by a famed filmmaker entered the Rs 100 crore club in India for the first time.
Meet the director who was the first to enter the Rs 100 crore club in India
AR Murugadoss was the first to enter the Rs 100 crore club in India, with his superhit movie Ghajini. Released in 2008, the action thriller film is the Hindi remake of Murugadoss’ Tamil directorial of the same name and stars Aamir Khan as the lead protagonist. Suriya headlined the OG film released in 2005. Asin made her Hindi film debut with this movie, which was Jiah Khan’s penultimate film before her death in 2013. Pradeep Rawat portrayed the main antagonist.
Ghajini is centered around Sanjay Singhania (Aamir Khan), a rich businessman suffering from anterograde amnesia caused by a vicious attack by gang leader Ghajini (Pradeep Rawat). The violent incident results in Sanjay’s fiancée and model Kalpana’s (Asin) death. Given Sanjay’s short-term memory loss, he exacts revenge on Ghajini by using a series of photographs, notes and tattoos on his body to recall his past memories.
Ghajini was a massive hit at the box office as it became the first film to enter the Rs 100 crore club in India. Not only that but according to the Times of India, Ghajini was also the first Hindi movie to cross Rs 200 crore at the global box office.
AR Murugadoss’ upcoming movies
AR Murugadoss, who predominantly works in Tamil cinema, has two exciting projects in the pipeline. First is SK23 (yet to be titled), an action thriller film in collaboration with Sivakarthikeyan. The second is Sikandar, which will see him collaborate with Salman Khan. Sikandar is slated for an Eid 2025 release.
