Barfi

Days Taken To Reach 100 Crores: 17

Reason It Surprised: This was a well-made movie without a doubt. But Barfi was never expected to perform so exceedingly well that it’d make it to the 100 crore club. Directed by Anurag Basu, the film was always believed to be a film for a niche audience where neither the lead actor nor the actress had anything to speak. Yet, its extremely positive response made way for more audiences to keep coming in and make it to that big figure.

Son of Sardar

Days Taken To Reach 100 Crores: 16

Reason It Surprised: While Ajay Devgn had delivered three 100 hundred crore movies before this, somehow Son of Sardar was never really expected to make this big. All Ajay’s previous biggies were with Rohit Shetty and this one did not have a big brand attached to itself. Moreover, it decided to take on SRK’s Jab Tak Hai Jaan on the same day that apparently was one of the biggest releases of the year. However, the entertainment quotient of the film did work well with the audience and it got at par with the biggie it clashed with.

Bhaag Milkha Bhaag

Days Taken To Reach 100 Crores: 24

Reason It Surprised: No sports based film in the country had ever made such a huge business and Farhan Akhtar wasn’t an actor big enough to lead a film such far. Despite all that, the positive aspect of this biopic drama found a good connect with the audience and it consistently performed well to make it to the league eventually. With a relatively new actor on screen in a sports biopic, it was indeed a big deal when the film earned this well.

Grand Masti

Days Taken To Reach 100 Crores: 23

Reason It Surprised: Possibly the hugest surprise that completely defied box office logic in India was an atrocious adult comedy like Grand Masti making it to the league of 100 crores. Believe it or not, the film wasn’t being taken seriously at all until the stuff got real. People started talking about its audacity to showcase such below the belt humor courtesy of the liberal censor board back then and in a matter of weeks, the film entered the big club. This was probably the only occasion on Indian screens when the only thing that got sold was sex and adult humor.

2 States

Days Taken To Reach 100 Crores: 14

Reason It Surprised: 2 States was a very good example of how a thoroughly well-made film that struck a chord with the audience got such a wide acceptance. With someone like an Arjun Kapoor taking charge as the solo lead in a romantic film with Alia, 2 States was never really a 100 crore material. However, the crazy popularity of the book and a positive word of mouth through the masses made sure the film got its due. Arjun Kapoor & Ranveer Singh together could not make more than 75 crores in Gunday, but he along with Alia easily garnered such huge number simply because the audiences got an entertaining family drama to watch.

ABCD 2

Days Taken To Reach 100 Crores: 17

Reason It Surprised: Yet another one of those movies that banked on the young star power in the looks of Varun and Shraddha and found its way to the banks. While the prequel was an encouraging enterprise that was ordinary at the box office, ABCD 2 was a huge surprise as it surpassed everybody’s expectations and collected a massive 105 crores. At times when biggest of the releases were finding it hard to mint money, this film got the better of us all.

Ek Villain

Days Taken To Reach 100 Crores: 14

Reason It Surprised: Proportionately far-fetched it terms of promotions, no one ever with a mind full of numbers could have thought this film would do 100 crores. Ek Villain is a clear example of how a well-balanced marketing product wrapped in an excellent package of music can show results on box office. The film was mostly welcomed to negative reviews and the word of mouth wasn’t too encouraging either. However, the overall appeal and promisingly modern romantic look to the film did wonders. Despite that, none amongst Shraddha, Sidharth or Riteish were big enough names to make a film work so well. Pure luck, we’d say!

Furious 7

Days Taken To Reach 100 Crores: 21

Reason It Surprised: Furious 7 had its share of potential to do well at Indian box office strictly in terms of content. However, it came as an obvious surprise since the film was the first ever Hollywood project to have crossed the milestone. Paul Walker’s sentimental element, 3D, Imax everything played a catalyst to make this high octane action flick sail past the 100 crore mark. The film was in fact the first in India to prove the potential of Hollywood movies in the country.

Baahubali (Hindi)

Days Taken To Reach 100 Crores: 24

Reason It Surprised: Before you get your tempers too high, please ask yourself if you thought Baahubali (Hindi) would do 100 crores. It would have come as a ludicrous joke had the same been predicted before the release of the film. The film was the first ever regional film in India whose dubbed version did such wonders at the box office and it only had one aspect backing it up: Word of mouth! The film with a constant progression kept minting money owing to the tremendous hype that got built only after its release. Also, the wide release that it got and the increase in number of shows later came as a support later, but if you were to put your moneys on this Telugu film’s Hindi version doing 100 crores, you would have discarded any possibility whatsoever.

The Jungle Book

Days Taken To Reach 100 Crores: 10

Reason It Surprised: If you were to make your predictions for a Hollywood release grossing 100 crores in India, Batman V Superman or Captain America: Civil War would have come as possible choices. But it was Disney’s The Jungle Book that absolutely took box office for a mind numbing ride and thrashed all records. A live animated movie with no star value on screen whatsoever making a fortune in India is as big a surprise as any. The film banked hugely on the connecting story, excellent Hindi dubbing and of course 3D and Imax.

Box office is as unpredictable as the weather and not one person in the trade business had anticipated these movies to have done so well. On another note, while it’s standard for a Khan or a Khiladi movie to make tons of money at ticket counters, what pleases you more is surprises like these going out perform better than your expectations. Let’s see what more surprises the box office has in store for us!