At present, the Hindi film industry is going through a very depressing phase. The situation is such that whatever Bollywood film is being released, it is getting busted at the box office within a few days. Today Hindi films are not able to survive even for a week at the box office, but there was a time when Bollywood films used to run in theaters for many years and used to earn a lot. Be it ‘Sholay’ which ran for five years in theaters or ‘Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge’ which ran in theaters for 22 consecutive years. But today we will talk about that film of Hindi cinema which is considered to be the first blockbuster film of Bollywood. The film was released 79 years ago and then ran for 3 consecutive years in theatres.
The name of this film is ‘Kismat’, which was released in 1943. The country had not even become independent then. In the WoW Wednesday series of Navbharat Times Online, we are going to tell you about this film. ‘Kismat’ had actors like Ashok Kumar, Mumtaz Shanti and Shah Nawaz. This was the first Indian film made from independent India, in which a virgin girl was shown pregnant and an anti-hero in a double role. ‘Kismat’ was such a hit at that time that it was later remade as ‘Prem Pasam’ in Tamil language as Prema Pasam and in Telugu as Bhale Ramudu.
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‘Kismat’ released 79 years ago, earned Rs 1 crore
At the time ‘Kismat’ was released, the country was in the shackles of slavery. The revolutionaries had left no stone unturned to ignite the flame of freedom. The bugle had rung against the British. At such a time, the release of ‘Kismat’ acted as a catalyst as the film had several patriotic songs, which ignited the spirit of patriotism among the people. This was what attracted people to the theaters then and ‘Kismat’ proved to be a blockbuster film of that era. It is said that ‘Kismat’ had earned Rs 1 crore at the box office then.
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Watch the song ‘Hindustan Hamara Hai’ from the movie ‘Kismet’:
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‘Kismat’ ran for 187 consecutive weeks in theaters
The film ‘Sholay’ is considered to be the first blockbuster film in Hindi cinema, which ran for five consecutive years at the Minerva Theater in Kolkata. But earlier this record was in the name of Ashok Kumar’s film ‘Kismat’. The film was released in Kolkata’s Roxy Cinema in January, 1943 and then it ran continuously in theaters for 3 years. The film ran for 187 weeks at the Roxy Cinema. After ‘Kismat’, no other film could make such a record for the next 32 years. In this way, Ashok Kumar’s ‘Kismat’ holds the record for running continuously in a theater for many years and many weeks.
Ashok Kumar in Kismet, Photo: memsaabstory.com
A scene from the movie Kismat, Photo: memsaabstory.com
After 32 years, ‘Sholay’ broke the record of ‘Kismat’
However, after 32 years, this record of ‘Kismet’ was broken by Ramesh Sippy’s ‘Sholay’. That film ran for five consecutive years at the Minerva Theater in Kolkata. The film had actors like Amitabh Bachchan, Hema Malini, Dharmendra and Amjad Khan. The very first film shown in Roxy Cinema of Kolkata was Ashok Kumar’s film and its name was ‘Ghar Sansar’. Later, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose had come to see Ashok Kumar’s ‘Kismat’ in this cinema hall.