One of the best ways to determine a movie’s success is by the amount of money it grosses at the box office.
Many factors determine how much a film makes on opening weekend and through its theatrical run.
These factors include but are not limited to, the film’s budget, the quality of the advertising campaign, reviews from critics and filmgoers, how well it competed with other movies, and its wide or limited release.
Here is a compilation of the 25 highest-grossing Bollywood movies in descending order.
The list of highest grossing Bollywood movies should be helpful and exciting to anyone who is a movie fanatic and loves Indian cinema.
Also, one can mention the business the movie has generated over the years. Some of the highest-grossing Bollywood hits have been made available online, but not all of them.
1. Baahubali 2: The Conclusion (2017)
- Worldwide Gross: $20.19M
First on our list of highest grossing Bollywood movies is Baahubali 2: The Conclusion. Kattappa tells the story of Amarendra Baahubali to Shivudu, who recounts his ancestry as a Mahishmati prince and son of Amarendra Baahubali.
Shivudu, now Mahendra Baahubali, decides to withdraw and, with Kattappa’s help, punish Bhallaladeva for all past wrongdoing.
2. Dangal (2016)
- Worldwide Gross: $12.39M
Second on this list of highest-grossing Bollywood movies is Dangal. This Biopic by Mahavir Singh Phogat taught fighting with his daughters Babita Kumari and Geeta Phogat.
Geeta Phogat was India’s first female athlete to win a gold medal (55 kg) at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, and her sister Babita Kumari won a silver (51 kg).
3. Secret Superstar (2017)
- Worldwide Gross: $11.88M
Secret Superstar is third on this list of the highest-grossing Bollywood movies. Insia loves to sing but belongs to a very traditional family.
Her father does not allow her to develop her talent, but her mother secretly will enable her to pursue her love of singing.
He began to post his songs anonymously online and gained fame nationwide, including among people from the music industry. The film depicts his journey of freedom and pursuit of his dream of becoming an artist.
4. Padmaavat (2018)
- Worldwide Gross: $11.85M
Settled in medieval Rajasthan, Queen Padmavati married a noble king. She lived in a prosperous castle with their subjects until the ambitious Sultan heard of Padmavati’s beauty and built a deep love for the Queen of Mewar.
5. PK (2014)
- Worldwide Gross: $10.62M
Next on this list of highest grossing Bollywood movies is PK. P. K IS. is a joke of ideas about a stranger in the city, asking questions that no one has ever asked.
They are innocent, child-like questions, but they bring disastrous answers. People who have been traumatized in their ways for generations are forced to re-examine their world when they see it through PK’s innocent eyes.
In this program, PK makes loyal friends and powerful enemies. It repairs broken lives and irritates the establishment—P’s curiosity. K., like a child, turns into a spiritual odyssey for him and millions of others. The film is an essential and varied exploration of complex early philosophies.
It is also a straightforward personal tale of love, laughter, and release. Finally, it is a touching proverb about the friendships of strangers from different countries.
6. Bajrangi Bhaijaan (2015)
- Worldwide Gross: $8.18M
Next on our list of highest-grossing Bollywood movies is Bajrangi Bhaijaan. In it, a young mute girl from a Pakistani village gets lost on her way back to India.
In Kurukshetra, you meet Pawan – a zealous servant of Lord Hanuman – amidst a challenge posed by his beloved father. When she tries to find the girl’s parents, she becomes an irreverent bond with him.
He is trying to get into Pakistan in the right way with his conscience and later, accompanied by an intelligent Pakistani journalist. This story catches the eye of the public in both countries.
7. Dhoom 3 (2013)
- Worldwide Gross: $8.03M
The favorite Indian action franchise is back. This time Jai Dixit (Abhishek Bachchan) and Ali (Uday Chopra) return to match the mind of the mysterious thief, Sahir (Aamir Khan), who has the city of Chicago in his race.
The lines are blurred in this war of vengeance and dignity, and the general definition of good and evil does not apply. Watch a spectacle that will delight you and move you.
8. Sanju (2018)
- Worldwide Gross: $7.91M
Next on this list of highest grossing Bollywood movies is Sanju. The Bombay High Court handed down its decision in the 1993 Bombay bombing case, and Sanjay Dutt (Sanju) was found to violate the TADA Act.
Sanju tries to give his life but survives his wife Manyaata, who then asks London-based writer Winnie Diaz to write his history.
Winnie agrees at first, but after a phone call from Zubin Mistry, a former close friend of Sanju’s, telling her that she will present it as not entirely true, she decides to do her research and contact Sanju’s close friend Kamli.
9. Baahubali: The Beginning (2015)
- Worldwide Gross: $6.74M
Next on this list of highest grossing Bollywood movies is Baahubali: The Beginning. When Sanga and her husband, who are part of a tribe around Mahismathi province, are saving a drowning baby, they do not know the baby’s background or what the future holds for him.
The child grows into a Shivudu, a free spirit who wants to explore the mountains while learning about his roots and realizing the whole purpose of his life and end up facing the mighty Bhallala Deva!.
10. War (2019)
- Worldwide Gross: $6.59M
An Indian soldier chases after his misguided counselor following an unexpected assassination.
11. Bajirao Mastani (2015)
- Worldwide Gross: $6.56M
In the 18th century, a Maratha State court ruled Peshwa, and Bajirao was appointed. With her skills, she won everyone’s hearts and became Pesha. Years later, she married Kashibai.
Going to war, a woman from Bundelkhand asks for her help and presents herself as Mastani, the daughter of the Rajput king.
Impressed by her abilities, Bajirao helps her fight her enemies and gives her her marijuana during the Holi festival – unaware that it is a wedding symbol.
12. 3 Idiots (2009)
Worldwide Gross: $6.53M
Farhan Qureshi and Raju Rastogi want to reunite with their schoolmate, Rancho, after cheating a stroke on an Air India flight and extending himself to his wife – a pair of shorts – respectively.
En route, they met another student, Chatur Ramalingam, now a successful businessman, who reminded them of the bets they had made ten years ago.
While remembering the incredible adventures—including their running with the Dean of the Imperial College of Engineering in Delhi, Viru Sahastrabudhe, and the race to find Rancho at his last known address—the three did not know the secret they had been hiding all this time.
13. Sultan (2016)
- Worldwide Gross: $6.20M
Next on this list of highest grossing Bollywood movies is Sultan. Sultan is an upcoming Indian action film directed by Ali Abbas Zafar and produced by Aditya Chopra under the banner of Yash Raj Films, the film starring Salman Khan and Anushka Sharma in the lead role.
The film focuses on Sultan Ali Khan (Salman Khan), a troubled warrior in his professional and personal life.
14. Simmba (2018)
- Worldwide Gross: $5.08M
Simba is an orphan from Shivgadh, where his beloved Singham was born and raised. Contrary to Singham’s philosophies, Simba believes that a Corrupt Officer’s life is a good life that encourages him to be.
Although Simba enjoys all the benefits of being an immoral and immoral police officer, the twisting of the story changes him and forces him to choose the right path.
15. 2.0 (2018)
- Worldwide Gross: $5.57M
Next on this list of highest grossing Bollywood movies is 2.0. Eight years later, Chitti was demolished for his vandalism.
Vaseegaran has created a new human-robot Nila that can better understand human emotions. Cell phones in the city are starting to disappear everywhere.
A bird-shaped creature is wreaking havoc on a city that is causing havoc. Vaseegaran believes this is the fifth force and decides to get Chitti back in action.
When Vaseegaran traces the location of lost cell phones with the help of Chitti and Nila, he discovers that it is not the fifth force but the human power that the late professor Pakshi Rajan has.
16. Tiger Zinda Hai (2017)
- Worldwide Gross: $5.56M
Next on this list of highest grossing Bollywood movies is Tiger Zinda Hai. Inspired by actual events, Tiger Zinda Hai is a fan of the blockbuster Ek Tha Tiger and a thrilling act that follows the courageous rescue operation in Iraq.
When a group of Indian and Pakistani nurses was abducted in Iraq by the militant Abu Usman, the Indian intelligence service (RAW) tracked Tiger fleeing for eight years and a former Pakistani intelligence agency (ISI) Zoya.
Gathering power in the name of humanity, Tiger and Zoya led a team of RAW and ISI agents to secretly enter the hospital where the nurses were detained and found the nurses in a safe place before the American airstrike exploded the hospital. Tiger Zinda Hai is an excellent entertainer with fun action, music, and fun.
17. Kabir Singh (2019)
- Worldwide Gross: $5.37M
This Sandeep Vanga title is the 2017 Telugu film Arjun Reddy. The plot revolves around an alcoholic surgeon who struggles with anger problems.
Things get worse as she watches the love of her life marry another man. It is high in emotion that accompanies an impressive action. The film promises a powerful clock.
18. Chennai Express (2013)
- Worldwide Gross: $5.31M
Rahul embarks on a journey to the small town of Tamil Nadu to fulfill his grandfather’s last wish: to have his ashes immersed in the Holy Water of Rameshwaram.
Along the way, he meets a woman from a unique family down in the South. Finding love in this journey to the happy states of Southern India, an unexpected drive awaits them.
19. Pushpa: The Rise – Part 1 (2021)
- Worldwide Gross: $5.29M
The story of Pushpa Raj, a truck driver in the forests of Seshachalam in South India, after being smuggled in red Sandalwood. Red Sandalwood is found in the South-Eastern Ghats (mountain range) of India.
20. Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior (2020)
- Worldwide Gross: $5.03M
Tanhaji is a drama about a respected Maratha warrior and a Shivaji military commander. In battle, they lost their father and grew up to be a fierce warrior with powerful fighting skills.
When Mughal ruler Aurangzeb hires his trusted bodyguard Udaybhan to take over Kondhana Fort, Shivaji decides not to join Tanhaji’s soon-to-be-married son.
However, as Tanhaji learns of Udaybhan’s pursuit of the castle, he decides to take over and prevent the rival army from reaching its destination.
This does not turn out to be accessible as dabhan finds himself assisted by people who do not want Tanhaji to succeed, which leads to wars and violent attacks as the plot continues.
21. Dilwale (2015)
- Worldwide Gross: $4.83M
Raj is a member of the Mafia. One day he meets a girl (Meera) chased by a rival gang and falls in love with him. She later learns that the girl is the daughter of a rival gang leader.
However, their love affair continues until his girlfriend shoots him for misunderstanding. After the incident, the couple lived apart until their siblings fell in love. With this new love story, their ways come together again.
22. Prem Ratan Dhan Payo (2015)
- Worldwide Gross: $4.36M
A plot to assassinate Prince Vijay a few days before his enthronement was hatched by his younger brother, his wealth and power in charge of the throne. Prem, like a prince, enters this point and loses his heart with the prince’s lover, Maithili.
23. Saaho (2019)
- Worldwide Gross: $2.63M
This exciting activity is about an ongoing power struggle at the highest levels of power, unrelated unconventional episodes in different parts of the world. Intertwine unexpectedly in the discovery of mind games.
The story explores the audience in a brilliant mind game to reveal the true nature of all involved. It challenges ideas on who is a hunter and who is being hunted.
24. Kick (2014)
- Worldwide Gross: $2.46M
On a train trip to Warsaw, psychiatrist Shaina meets Himanshu, a police officer from India, to discuss their marriage.
The two are reluctant to enter an organized organization but become friends and start an in-depth conversation when Shaina reveals her previous relationship with the unusual Devi, a man who lived only on a ‘kick’ called the adrenaline rush.
Despite her misbehavior, they started a romantic relationship, until one day she broke up with him to get a new ‘Kick’ and leave, never to return.
Himanshu himself praises him for his glorious escape as a prince but reveals that he has finally met his match, a clever thief. They both don’t know that their stories have one thing in common, Devi.
He returns to their lives under the pretext that he has lost his memory. After all, a profound mystery and a never-ending task when Devi is ready to lose her life.
25. Andhadhun (2018)
- Worldwide Gross: $1.37M
Akash, a blind pianist, prepares for a London concert. Sophie’s scooter collides with Akash, and when he finds her a pianist, he takes her to a restaurant run by Franco’s father and gives him a job.
Akash meets 70-year-old actor Pramod Sinha restaurant asks. To perform a private concert of his songs at his residence to surprise his wife, Simi. When he arrived at his house the next day, a shocking surprise awaited Akash.
Conclusion
When it comes to box office success, India lives up to its reputation as the Bollywood capital of the world.
The films in this list are some of the best and most popular Indian movies, many of which have been huge successes. The films in this list grossed over 100 crores (1 billion rupees), and 25 of them.
They were enough to beat every other country’s top-grossing movies combined! There must be something about a good Bollywood flick that keeps people coming back for more.
Although the top five grossing Bollywood movies are all still recent releases, it does seem that there is an upward trend in terms of the total number of tickets being sold.
This can likely be attributed to higher ticket prices, overall population growth, and a growing middle class with more purchasing power.
