MUMBAI: It was in 1957 that a film dropped which changed everything for the Indian Cinema. The film that opened our doors to the Oscar. ‘Mother India’ was selected as one of the final nominees in the 1958 Academy Awards in the Best Foreign Language Film Category.

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However, the film saw the rise of a box office superstar and turned witness to the fact that a female-led film could do wonders at the Box Office.

The Nargis starrer was supported by Sunil Dutt, Rajendra Kumar, and Raajkumar. However, while the three men took a backseat, it was Nargis who shouldered the film on strongly and turned it into a historic box office.

Mother India was released in 1957, and it was the highest-grossing film of that year. Helmed by Mehboob Khan, the film earned 4.5 crore at the box office. This lifetime business if adjusted according to the inflation, might be anywhere between 1700 – 2100 crore! Yes, you read that right. The film, made on a meager budget, was an all-time blockbuster.

In fact, Nargis was the first female superstar to deliver a female-led box office success, an all-time blockbuster in this case. Mother India was reported to be made on a budget of around 60 lakh, and the film collected 4.5 crore. In fact, the film is said to open at around 1 lakh on the day of the release.

If one considers the road to attaining 4.5 crore starting with 1 lakh, it was still a long, long road, till the film finally achieved the 4.5 crore at the box office, finishing the run with a golden number, turning the highest-grossing film of that year.

Reports suggest that Mother India, which was nominated at the Oscars, created quite a buzz and collected approximately 8 – 9 crore at the worldwide box office. It was released on 25 October 1957, on Diwali, and ran continuously for a year in theatres. It definitely belongs to the list of highest-grossing films ever to date!

Mother India received cult status over the years, and to date, surprisingly, none of the actresses have been successful in crossing this (inflation-adjusted) lifetime business of around 2000 crore. Right from Kangana Ranaut to Deepika Padukone and from Alia Bhatt to Vidya Balan, none have come close to beating the number.

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Actresses of the yesteryear, Sridevi and Madhuri Dixit, who were considered independent Box Office stars, could also not come close to the number Nargis achieved with her film Mother India.

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Credits - koimoi