Not Sholay, DDLJ, Hum Aapke Hain Koun, Ghajini, this was the first film to mint Rs 100 crore worldwide; earned more than RRR, Pathaan, Jawan, Animal overseas

Aamir Khan, Asin, Pradeep Rawat, and Jiah Khan-starrer and AR Murugudoss-directed action thriller Ghajini broke several box office records in 2008 and became the first Indian film to earn over Rs 100 crore in the net domestic collections in India, thus establishing the 100-crore club in Indian cinema. However, the first Indian film to cross the Rs 100-crore mark at the global box office collections came over four decades ago. It proved to be a sleeper hit in India and became a huge blockbuster in Soviet Union. The movie being talked about is the 1982 dance-action film Disco Dancer.

Headlined by Mithun Chakraborty, Disco Dancer starred Satyakim Yashpal aka Kim as the leading lady and had Om Puri, Om Shivpuri, Gita Siddharth and Karan Razdan in supoorting roles with Rajesh Khanna making a special appearance. The movie was written by noted Urdu and Hindi poet Rahi Masoom Raza and produced and directed by Babbar Subhash.

Made in just Rs 2 crore, Disco Dancer earned Rs 6.4 crore gross in India. When it was released in the Soviet Union in 1984, the film saw housefull theatres for weeks and became a sensation at the box office. Disco Dancer earned 60 million Soviet rubles, equal to Rs 94.28 crore. Thus, the worlwide gross earnings of the film were Rs 100.82 crore and Disco Dancer became the first Indian film to gross ₹100 crore worldwide. In terms of dollars, the Mithun Chakraborty film earned $59 million overseas. These figures are even more than RRR, Pathaan, Jawan, and Animal, which had earned $53 million, $49 million, $46 million, and $32 million at the overseas box office. The 1982 release is the sixth highest-grossing film in the overseas markets behind Dangal, Secret Superstar, Pushpa 2: The Rule, Bajrangi Bhaijaan, and Baahubali 2: The Conclusion. These dollar figures are not adjusted for inflation.

One of the major reasons behind Disco Dancer's worldwide success was also its sensational soundtrack by Bappi Lahiri. The songs of the film including I Am A Disco Dancer, Jimmy Jimmy Aaja, Koi Yahan Nache Nache, and Yaad Aa Raha Hai are still immensely popular today. In 2023, it was reported that the director Babbar Subhash is working on the Disco Dancer sequel. However, no more updates about the same has been heard in the last two years.

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