Bollywood is a platform which gives every actor and a movie, a chance to outstand or showcase their talents. Likewise, Bollywood is a very essential part of people‘s lives as movies play a very vital role in the entertainment section of the population. Most of the people like to watch every new movie realised. Every individual has it’s own taste and preferences when it comes to movies. The past decade of the generation loved to watch a lot of unconventional and pathbreaking movies taking over the Bollywood. As the generation changed, so the script line of the movies and in order, the new audience leaving behind all the old movies, accepted all the upcoming new movies and stories with open arms and hearts. Sometimes, some movies with a very low budget can make it up to the highest profits i.e. the movies made with a very low cost or budget can earn the highest and break all the records.
As Bollywood is the world‘s biggest film industry in terms of its output or the result produced with its unique dramatization and the various cultures found. It has gained a lot of huge applause from both national and international viewers. Contributions given by the movies, to the world is great and has gained a lot of fans worldwide. It is the largest film industry in terms of its work and had gained a lot of attention from the audience, worldwide. The old Indian film version was largely controlled and influenced by British films. It has changed drastically over years and now it is known most popularly and commonly as ‘Masala Films’. The genres of the Bollywood films have been so many and with so much of variations in the Indian cinema, consisting of- drama, action, romance, romcom, suspense, thriller, and so much more, all being put together in just 2-2.5 hours (standard time) of movies.
Indian films have been showcased globally since the 20th century, worldwide. 21st century, gave a higher boost in the film industry as there was a steady rise in the ticket price and the number of theatres increased. Also, there was an increase in the prints of a film being released, which caused a huge boost in the box office collections. Till date, the movies which earned the highest in the low-cost—filmmaking budget is mostly the Indian movies (Bollywood—Hindi Films). The Bollywood movies have broken the record of 300 and 500 crores as it has seen the most powerful growth in the box office competition over the past few decades.
Even in the second half of this decade, Bollywood has seen on immense growth in the profits earned by them. The movies made, have immensely boosted up the growth of the film industry by earning more and more every decade. This decade too, all the records were broken and it earned the highest on low budgets too. The movies are categorised in so many variations some movies are hits, some are super hits, some are blockbusters and some earn more at the box-office, that is the profit earned by them is the highest. These kinds of movies set the benchmark for the other movies, to success in the industry— nation wise as well as globally. Such films defy the reach and limits out to every place of the country and the world, because of their universal appeal. Such films are defining films with the pinnacle of commercial success in the Indian cinema also known as the Hindi cinema. No better hits have been seen than these. Starting from Bheja fry to Tera Bin Laden, such movies with the lowest of budgets managed to earn the highest through their brilliant and excellent work in the films. Their profits were well above their cost-cutting that is the budgets of these films.
Here are the 15 Bollywood Films which showcased their talents so well and broke all the records despite their small budget and earned highest are:
1. Khosla Ka Ghosla (2006)- Directed by Dibakar Banerjee— Khosla Ka Ghosla was a comedy based movie on a middle-class family from Delhi that falls in some trap of land mafias and emerges out winning. This was a very entertaining movie with a small budget of Rs 3 crore. But, at last, the movie was able to collect Rs 7.5 crore (approximately) even on such small scale of budget. The starring actors, with their amazing performances, were Anupam Kher, Ranvir Shorey, Boman Irani, Tara Sharma, Vinay Pathak, Parveen Dabas and the late actor Navin Nischol.
2. Bheja Fry (2007)- Directed by Sagar Ballary and produced by Sunil Doshi, Bheja Fry was a very comedy and entertaining movie. It was made on a budget of Rs 60 lakhs but managed to earn highest above the making cost i.e. it was able to earn Rs 8 crores at the box-office. Bheja Fry is based on the French Movie Le Diner De Cons (1998).
3. A Wednesday (2008)- Written and directed by Neeraj Pandey— A Wednesday is a thriller film which won many awards such as Indira Gandhi Award For Best Debut Film of a Director at the 56th National Film Awards. The film had a budget of Rs 5 crore, but it managed to earn Rs 30 crore, at its highest. It was inspired by a Tamil film ‘Unnaipol Oruvan’, Telegu films ‘Eenadu’ and the American English film ‘A Common Man’. Being a small budget film, the best part was, that it was promoted based on positive word of mouth and critical acclaim success.
4. Tere Bin Laden (2010)- The first Pakistani male to debut in the lead role in a Bollywood movie— Ali Zafar, was the first one of who marked the debut in the Indian cinema film—Tere Bin Laden. A great humour-based movie an out-of-the-box story made it the highest hit among the masses. The movie was made on a small budget of Rs 6 crores and was able to earn Rs 15 crore as its highest budget at the box-office within its very first opening weekend. Directed by Abhishek Sharma and had Piyush Mishra, Pradhuman Singh and acting guru Barry John in supporting roles was, however, banned in Pakistani’s film censor board.
5. Phas Gaye Re Obama (2010)- A comedy based film, was a hit. Directed by Subhash Kapoor a national award-winning director. The movie was made on a minimal budget of Rs 6 crore and collected a huge amount of Rs 19 crore at it’s highest and was declared a super hit. It was based on comical, global recession and the impact it had on India. Starring actors were Rajat Kapoor, Sanjai Mishra, Man Rishi Chadha, Amol Gupte and Neha Dhupia with their memorable and amazing performances.
6. Peepli Live (2010)- Directed and written by Anusha Riavi and produced Aamir Khan, it was a movie that highlighted India’s labour class and was based on the growing need of sensationalism in media. The movie won the hearts of the audience and was appreciated for the rawness and humanistic approach of daily life problems, as displayed in it. It was made on the budget of Rs 10 crore and was able to earn Rs 29 crore at the box office. It was also awarded for India’s official entry for the title of Best foreign film category for the 83rd Academy Awards. However, wasn’t nominated for it. The starring actors were Naseeruddin Shah, Raghubir Yadav, Omkar Das Manipuri and also the Nawazuddin Siddiqui in the limelight. The movie was also submitted for India’s official entry to the 23rd Academy Awards Best Foreign Film category and was also ranked the 3rd highest-grossing film in the US domestic market in its opening weekend.
7. No one Killed Jessica (2011)- No one killed Jessica, directed by Rajkumar Gupta, was a film based on a real story on the case of the murder of Jessica Lal. It is a biographical thriller movie and was produced on a small budget of Rs 9 crore. But was able to earn a higher amount of Rs 104 crores. It was also the 10th highest-grossing Hindi films of 2011 and earned Rs 1.3 billion worldwide. The film was nominated for five Filmfare Awards and also won the best director award for the film while the best actress award for the same was given to Vidya Balan.
8. Pyaar Ka Punchnama (2011)- Directed by Luv Ranjan and starring Kartik Aaryan and Nushrat Bharucha, Rayo Bakhirta and Sonalli Sehgall and Divyendu Sharma and Ishita Sharma as three couples. Made on a small budget of Rs 7 crore, the movie was able to earn the highest amount of Rs 12 crore at the box office. Based on a modern-day relationship, the romantic comedy film was a novel earlier. The movie, since then, achieved cult status among Indian youth. 
9. Vicky Donor (2012)- Directed by Shoojit Sircar, produced by actor John Abraham and starring Ayushmann Khurrana, Dolly Ahluwalia, Yami Gautam and Annu Kapoor in main lead roles, Vicky Donor, a romantic comedy with its unusual film title and story-line made a special place in the Indian media. Made on the small budget of Rs 5 crore, the movie collected a huge amount of Rs 65 crore at the box-office. It was based on a very sensitive topic of sperm donations and still somehow manage to be commercial as well as a critical success in its audience. National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment at the 60th National Film Awards was also won by the movie.
10. Kahaani (2012)- A movie without an actor, Kahaani was a great success in the cinemas. As based on a mystery—thriller movie, the film got a huge appreciation from the audience, globally. It starred the very popular actress named Vidya Balan and was directed by Sujay Ghosh, the movie was made on a small budget of Rs 8 crore and still managed to collect a huge amount of Rs 78 crore at the box-office. It starred Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Darshan Zariwala, Indraneil Sengupta, Parambrata Chatterjee and Saswata Chatterjee in prominent role-plays. The lesser-known facts about the film are that it used guerrilla-filmmaking techniques on the streets of Kolkata to be able to avoid attention. It won awards such as the three National Film Awards, five Filmfare Awards. Director Sujoy Ghosh won the best director award for the film while Vidya Balan won the Best Actress Award for the same.
11. Paan Singh Tomar (2012)- Directed by Tigmanshu Dhulia and starred the late actor Irrfan Khan, was a biopic made on the Indian soldier and rebel Paan Singh Tomar. The movie was made on a minimal budget of Rs 8 crore and managed to collect a huge amount of Rs 38 crore at the box-office. The other actors in the movie were Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Vipul Sharma and Mahi Gill. The film also won the Best feature film award at the 60th national film awards in 2012. The best actor award was won by Irrfan Khan and also the receipt of critics award for the Best Actor at the 50th Filmfare awards. The movie also won the award for best screenplay ever.
12. The Lunchbox (2013)- The lunchbox starred late actor Irrfan Khan and directed by Ritesh Batra was declared a hit in 2013. The movie was made on a small budget of Rs 10 crore and was able to collect the highest amount of Rs 20 crore at the box office. It also starred actors such as Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Nakul Vaid, Nimrat Kaur and Lillette Dubey playing the cast while Bharati Achrekar lent her voice for a character that was never shown in the movie. The movie also entered in the Academy award but, was not finalised. It was based on a unique story and is still a memorable movie with amazing performances by the leading roles.
13. Bajrangi Bhaijaan (2015)- Directed by Kabir Khan and starring Salman Khan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Harshaali Malhotra and Kareena Kapoor Khan, Bajrangi Bhaijaan was a very famous super-hit movie of 2015. This was based on a very different and unique storyline. Salman Khan was seen in a very unusual role than before. The movie was based on very common-man, with a simple personality named Pawan Kumar Chaturvedi— a very religious minded and truly a follower of God Bajrangbali, who meets a small girl—Shahida, who is lost on her way back home and is an impaired child. This was Salman’s a very memorable and remarkable role. The film was made on a small budget of Rs 90 crore and managed to earn the highest amount of Rs 444.92 crore at the box-office. The film was appreciated and applauded by the audience worldwide and made a remarkable mark on them and also left a deep mark of hope and peace among its viewers. As the movie was released a day before Eid, the day made it lucky for Salman Khan as the movie was a commercial success.
14. Dangal (2016)- Directed by Nitesh Tiwari and starring Aamir Khan, Fatima Sana Shaikh, Zara Wasim and Sanya Malhotra, Dangal was a very popular hit of 2016. The movie was based on a two Commonwealth gold medallist, sisters i.e. Phogat sisters— Geeta Phogat and Babita Kumari from Haryana. Aamir Khan played a very essential role in the movie as he was the father of the two sisters who use to train them because of the sister, unfulfilled dream of winning a medal for India which was accomplished by them later on in the movie. The movie was as usual made on a very minimal budget of Rs 70 crore and managed to earn the highest amount of Rs 716 crores at the box-office. The film is the 2nd highest-grossing film of the decade and also won several awards at the 62nd Filmfare Awards. Aamir Khan in the main role of a motivating and hardworking father and Sanya Malhotra and Fatima Sana Shaikh as the Phogat sisters won over the audiences with their stellar performances.
15. Lipstick Under My Burkha (2017)- Directed by Alankrita Shrivastava and produced by Prakash Jha, Lipstick Under My Burkha— is a black comedy Indian film. The film was made on a very low budget of Rs 6 crore but managed to collect a huge amount of Rs 26.68 crore. It is one of the movies that has left a remarkable mark on the audience with the bold female characterisation. The film has achieved the Spirit of Asia Prize and the Oxfam Award for Best Film on Gender Equality. Nominations for the 63rd Filmfare Award, including Best Film in Critics, was also received by the film. And the Best Supporting Actress Award was won by Ratna Pathak.
Bollywood has always been the most colourful with their great stories that thrill and excite the audience. Movies make the audience passionate about them and also make them fall in love and explore cultures and diversity. No better hits have been seen than these!
