India's most expensive films
Since big budget is the key for success, here's a look at some Indian films whose budgets have touched the sky.
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Tamil mega star Rajinikanth and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan starrer bilingual film Endhiran is being touted as the costliest film of India with a budget of Rs 150 crore.
The film, which will be released this September in Tamil and Hindi (Robot), has been in the making for over two years and has been shot in exotic locations like Vienna in Austria, Machu Picchu in Peru, US and Brazil. -
Year 2008 saw the release of Abihshek, Priyanka starrer Drona made at a lavish budget of Rs 79 crore. Reports are that director Goldie Behl spent Rs 22 crore for an imaginary den for the villain. But despite all this the film was a damp squib at the box office.
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Ashutosjh Gowariker's magnum opus Jodhaa Akbar based on Mughal emperor Akbar's life and his relationship with his Hindu wife Jodhaabai costed about Rs 50 crore. The film which had Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Hrithik Roshan had elaborate sets and huge war scenes which actually upped the budget.
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Shah Rhkh Khan's home production Om Shanti Om, directed by his choregorapher friend Farah Khan was made at Rs 45 crore. With King Khan you can always expect something big. It seems the humungous sets and post production publicity led to the steep rise in film's budget.
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Another Rajinikanth film that has made to the most expensive league is his 2007 superhit Sivaji- The Boss. According to the industry estimates, it was the most expensive Indian film at the time of its release. The film was made with a budget of about Rs 60 crore which included Rajinikanth's salary. (Text: Wikepedia)
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Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Devdas (2002) based on the Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay novel Devdas had Shah Rukh Khan, Madhuri Dixit, and Aishwarya Rai in leading roles. At the time of its release, Devdas was the most expensive Bollywood film ever produced, with a reported budget of Rs 53 crore. The film was released in six alternative language versions: English, French, German, Mandarin, Thai, and Punjabi. (Text: Wikepedia)
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Akshay Kumar, Sanjay Dutt and Lara Dutta starrer underwater thriller Blue was made at a whopping Rs 126 crores and it was shot extensivley in the Bahamas. Reports were that Australian pop singer Kylie Minogue, who flew down to India for the shoot, was paid $1 million for one song. That made Kylie Minogue the most expensive international star to make an appearance in a Hindi film. The song Chiggy Wiggy was a great hit but the film failed to create any buzz at the box office.
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Karan Johar directed Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham had a gamut of big stars including Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, Hrithik Roshan and Kareena Kapoor. The film was majorly shot in the US and UK, apart from India. It was made at Rs 42 crore.
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The Burning Train starring Vinod Khanna, Hema Malini, Parveen Babi, Dharmendra and Danny Denzongapa was released in 1980. At that time Director Ravi Chopra invested a lot of money in it but the film failed to impress the audience back home. The movie was seen as being ahead of its time.
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Director K Asif's magnum opus Mughal-e-Azam a 1960 Indian epic film took nine years and Rs 10.5 million to finish. The film broke box office records in India when released and also held the record for the highest grossing film ever until the 1975 film Sholay broke its record. (Text: Wikepedia)