Mithun Chakraborty ‘couldn’t believe’ when Disco Dancer earned Rs 100 crore: ‘Itna paisa, baap re!’

The actor also shared how a film was considered a superhit even if it did a business of Rs 50-55 crore. But today, the amount holds no value and a film is labelled a flop even if it touches the Rs 100 cr mark. He said, “If a film did Rs 3 to 5 crore in a territory, it used to be considered a blockbuster business. So, if you add all territories, a business of Rs 50-55 crore was seen as an unbelievable number. Now, if a film doesn’t cross Rs. 100 crores, people would be like ‘Haan, theek hai’! Aaj kal shayad paisa bahut sasta ho gaya hai (Maybe the value of money has gone down).”

According to Forbes, Disco Dancer sold over 120 million tickets upon its release, making it the first Indian film to enter the coveted Rs 100 crore club and was a hit overseas as well. It was a hit in Central Asia, Eastern Europe, Russia, China, the Middle East, Turkey and West and East Africa.

Disco Dancer was a rags-to-riches story of a young boy who performs on the streets, played by Chakraborty. The film’s songs and Chakraborty’s dance steps from them are popular to this day. The film also gave him the moniker of Disco Dancer and was also credited for introducing Indians to disco dancing.

Mithun Chakraborty was last seen in the film Bestseller, which also starred Shruti Haasan, Gauahar Khan and Arjan Bajwa. The actor will next be seen in a film titled Baap which also stars Sunny Deol, Sanjay Dutt and Jackie Shroff.