Top 10 Highest Grossing Films Of 1995 Which Turn 25 In 2020
Posted On: 08 Mar 2020 | Last Updated : 08 Mar 2022 | Views : 1.k
The year was 1995 where history was rewritten and shooting songs abroad became the trend for Bollywood filmmakers. 1995 was the year when Amitabh Bachchan continued with his sabbatical while the ‘Khan’s continued their dominance at the ticket windows. Action and romantic genre movies continued to rule the box-office and the term ‘Blockbuster’ began to gain prominence. The introduction of music CDs had flooded the market and movies had a maximum run of 25 weeks in theaters as the production of films increased. As usual, a mere 20% of films made huge money while 20% were above average and the remaining 60% bit the dust. So, which films raked in the most moolah and which ended up in the top 10 highest grossers of 1995, let’s find out below:
1. Trimurti (14.24 Crore)
Trimurti was launched with much fanfare with the coming of three big stars - Jackie Shroff, Sanjay Dutt and Shah Rukh Khan for the first time on screen but Sanjay Dutt’s arrest got in Anil Kapoor joining the cast. Produced by Subhash Ghai and directed by Mukul Anand, Trimurti didn’t live up to its expectations as the storyline and screenplay had nothing new to offer. The film reportedly managed to just about break-even as it ended up being director Mukul Anand’s swansong and the last association of Laxmikant-Pyarelal composing for a Subhash Ghai production.
2. Ram Jaane (14.50 Crore)
Ram Jaane saw a different Shah Rukh Khan on the screen that of a 'tapori' who turns into a gangster. Directed by his Chamatkar director Rajiv Mehra, Ram Jaane may have not done as much business as DDLJ but is still considered one of SRK’s best performances. With Juhi Chawla and Vivek Mushran for company, SRK hammed through the film for he also made headlines for breaking his knee while shooting the title song. The film’s clash with another biggie (Akele Hum Akele Tum) on the same day affected its collections at the box-office.
3. Sabse Bada Khiladi (15.82 Crore)
Released on 9 June 1995, Akshay Kumar’s Sabse Bada Khiladi was a runaway hit at the ticket windows. The third franchise in the ‘Khiladi’ series after Khiladi (1992) and Main Khiladi Tu Anari (1994), Akshay’s daredevil action sequences got the audiences rooting for him. Directed by Umesh Mehra and co-starring Mamta Kulkarni, Mohnish Bahl and Sadashiv Amrapurkar, SBK added another feather to Khiladi Kumar’s cap thus, opening the doors for another 5 movies in the 'Khiladi' series to follow.
4. Coolie No.1 (20.96 Crore)
Released on 30 June 1995, Coolie No.1 was the sixth outing of Govinda with director David Dhawan who together earlier had given Taaqatwar, Swarg, Shola Aur Shabnam, Aankhen and Raja Babu. Govinda this time came up with a clean family comedy film with Karisma Kapoor and Kader Khan’s performances too coming in for a lot of praise. Songs composed by Anand-Milind and penned by Sameer included hits like Coolie No.1 Main Coolie No.1, Main To Raste Se Jaa Raha Tha, Husn Hai Suhana, Tere Pyar Mein Dil Deewana Hai, etc.
5. Barsaat (32.43 Crore)
Barsaat was the launch vehicle of Dharmendra’s younger son Bobby Deol and Rajesh Khanna – Dimple Kapadia’s daughter Twinkle Khanna. Directed by Rajkumar Santoshi, Barsaat didn’t do the kind of business that Sunny Deol’s Betaab had done in 1983 but nevertheless it turned Bobby Deol into a heartthrob overnight. The songs by Nadeem-Shravan were brilliant while Santosh Sivan’s camerawork was as good as a Hollywood movie. The film will always be remembered for its songs and breathtaking action sequences.
6. Rangeela (32.61 Crore)
One of the top 10 successful movies of 1995 was Ram Gopal Varma’s quicky Rangeela which took the box-office by storm when released in September that year. Known for his gangster and horror flicks, RGV surprised everyone by narrating the story of a tapori named Munna (Aamir Khan) who falls in love with his neighbour (Urmila) who is an upcoming actress. The film had top-notch music by A.R. Rahman, which marked his Bollywood debut while Urmila Matondkar got her first big hit. A.R. Rahman that year bagged the Filmfare Award for Best Music beating Jatin-Lalit for DDLJ. The songs continue to remain one of Rahman’s best compositions to date.
7. Raja (33.58 Crore)
Inspired by the Bollywood hit flick Rain Man, Raja took a while to release as it was reported that director Indra Kumar had reshot many parts of the film. Raja’s success marked a hattrick by director Indra Kumar at the box-office who had earlier delivered Dil and Beta. The film also marked the acting debut of Sanjay Kapoor whose debut film Prem got delayed and released later in the same year. Madhuri Dixit yet again stole the show with her oomph and dance numbers. Nadeem-Shravan’s tunes too contributed to the success of the film, which ended up as the third-highest grosser of that year.
8. Karan Arjun (52.00 Crore)
Producer-director Rakesh Roshan made a comeback of sorts with this reincarnation revenge drama after his earlier release King Uncle (1993) performing badly at the box office. Released on the 13 of January 1995, Karan Arjun was a runaway hit with Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan in the lead. Initially, titled Kaiyanaat, Rakesh Roshan had signed SRK along with Ajay Devgn who was later replaced by Salman Khan. Songs were an added attraction by Rajesh Roshan while Rakhee’s dialogue - Mere Karan Arjun Aayenge became iconic. Bringing both the Khan’s together on screen for the first time guaranteed a big opening for the film. Even 25 years later, the film looks so fresh and hard-hitting.
9. Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (86.50 Crore)
Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge or DDLJ for short marked the directorial debut of Yash Chopra’s son Aditya Chopra who recreated NRI romance in the form of Raj and Simran on screen. DDLJ managed to break all box-office records that existed that time, its magnificent non-stop run of silver jubilee in Maratha Mandir theatre continues to date. The movie easily was the winner among the top 10 highest box office collection movies in 1995 while the songs became instant chartbusters at home as well as abroad. Except for the 'Best Music' award by Jatin-Lalit, the film swept all the popular Filmfare trophies that year. DDLJ has not only gained iconic status in Indian cinema but also remains a benchmark for many budding filmmakers who intended to make films in the romantic genre.
10. Akele Hum Akele Tum (11.71 Crore)
Released along with SRK’s Ram Jaane on the same day, Akele Hum Akele Tum was based on the American film Kramer vs. Kramer. Starring Aamir Khan and Manisha Koirala, the musical romantic drama was directed by Mansoor Khan while Anu Malik composed the songs. Much was expected of AHAT but the combination of Aamir and Mansoor failed to create the magic of their previous films Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak and Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar as it ended up at the tenth position in the list of highest box-office grossing films of 1995.
