It's been just three days since Saiyaara released in theatres, but Mohit Suri's film is already breaking records at the box office. The film, which stars Ahaan Panday and Aneet Padda, has earned ₹85 crore in India in its opening weekend, the highest for any debutant-led Indian film ever. It is likely that the film will set a new all-time record for a film with debutants in lead by the time it ends its run. But that will be in gross terms only. If adjusted for inflation, or even when taking footfalls into account, one 50-year-old film still rules the roost.

India's highest-grossing film led by debutants

Raj Kapoor's Bobby, which launched Rishi Kapoor and Dimple Kapadia in 1973, and turned them into overnight stars, still remains the most successful film led by debutants. The film was the highest-grossing Indian film of the year, netting ₹11 crore in the domestic market on a budget of just ₹1 crore. According to the book Cinema Industry in India: Pricing and Taxation, Bobby had 5.35 crore footfalls in India alone. The film's inflation-adjusted domestic gross would be close to ₹1000 crore today.

Conversely, in India, Kaho Na Pyaar Hai, which starred Ameesha Patel and Hrithik Roshan, had more than 30 million viewers. Today, its inflation-adjusted home revenue is about 600 crore rupees. Despite its popularity, Saiyaara has so far attracted about 50 lakh visitors to India. It's possible that the movie will have no trouble surpassing 2 crore footfalls, but it may have trouble getting to 3 crore. Even in the modern post-pandemic world, it would be a tremendous accomplishment.

In addition to the Soviet Union, where he sold 62.6 million tickets and made 15.65 million Roubles, Bobby had tremendous popularity. The movie was also a huge hit in Southeast Asian nations like Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia, where even non-Indian viewers watched it despite the lack of subtitles. The predicted range for Bobby's inflation-adjusted overseas gross is between ₹600 and ₹800 crore, although there are several estimations. With novices in the main roles, no other Indian movie has achieved these figures outside.

The way Bobby triumphed over pan-Indian blockbusters

The fact that Bobby's film made ₹11 crores in India is remarkable. Two years later, Sholay surpassed it by bringing in ₹15 crore. Ten years later, Disco Dancer broke its overseas record. However, its ₹1600–1800 crore haul (in today's terms) ranks it as one of the most successful Indian films of all time when inflation is taken into account. It surpasses the accomplishments of even pan-Indian movies like Jawan, Kalki 2898 AD, and RRR.

All about Bobby

Raj Kapoor made Bobby as much to launch his son, Rishi, as to recover the losses his previous film, Mera Naam Joker, had incurred. Rishi was only cast in the movie because Raj Kapoor had no money to cast Rajesh Khanna, the reigning superstar. Produced under his banner of RK Films, the film featured 20-year-old Rishi and 16-year-old Dimple as young lovers who elope. The film also starred Prem Nath, Pran, Prem Chopra, Aruna Irani, Farida Jalal, and Durga Khote. Surprisingly, the film received middling reviews upon release, but was an instant hit with the masses.

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