Kranti

This article is about the 1981 film. For the 2002 film, see Kranti (2002 film). For the 2023 film, see Kranti (2023 film). For the comic-strip character, see Minimum Security.

Kranti
Kranti movie poster
Directed byManoj Kumar
Written byStory & Screenplay:
Salim–Javed
Dialogues:
Manoj Kumar
Produced byManoj Kumar
StarringDilip Kumar
Manoj Kumar
Shashi Kapoor
Shatrughan Sinha
Hema Malini
Parveen Babi
CinematographyJoe D'Souza
Edited byManoj Kumar
Music byLaxmikant–Pyarelal
Release date
  • 6 February 1981 (1981-02-06)
Running time
179 minutes[1]
CountryIndia
LanguageHindi[2]

Kranti (transl. Revolution) is a 1981 Indian historical drama film, produced, edited, dialogue and directed by Manoj Kumar, with the story and screenplay written by Salim–Javed.[3] It stars an ensemble cast, consisting of Dilip Kumar in the title role along with Manoj Kumar, Shashi Kapoor, Shatrughan Sinha, Hema Malini, Parveen Babi in pivotal roles. The film also marked the return of Dilip Kumar after a four-year hiatus.[4] It ranks among the top 10 highest grossing Indian films of all time, when adjusted for ticket-price inflation.[5] It was one of the most expensive Indian films of the time and it went on to become the highest grossing Indian film of the 1980s decade by a distance, when adjusted for inflation.[6][7]

At the time of release it was the fastest earner of all time setting first run records in practically all circuits barring Mumbai and South. It celebrated a silver jubilee in 26 centres and even in places like Mirzapur (UP) and Junagadh (Gujarat) where jubilees were very rare. There are hardly ten films in history that are estimated to have celebrated jubilees in over 25 centres. The craze of the film was such that in places like Delhi, Rajasthan, UP and Haryana there were shops selling Kranti T-shirts, jackets, vests and even underwear.[5] This film celebrated golden jubilee in many centres across India. It ran for 67 weeks straight in the theatres including a theatre where it was housefull for 96 days.

The collections in all major centres of UP did not see a drop even weeks after its release. The collections after ten weeks in places like Agra, Gorakhpur and Varanasi were still competing with new releases. Kranti grossed 1.25 crore nett in Delhi / UP in ten weeks and then went on to do over 3 crore nett in its full run and before Hum Aapke Hain Kaun..! released in 1994 (marking major changes in business of films), there were only three films in history to cross 3 crore nett in Delhi / UP. The film was finally declared a Golden Jubilee Hit.[8][5] Kranti is widely regarded as a cult film.[9]

  1. ^ "Kranti". British Board of Film Classification. 30 September 1988. Archived from the original on 28 January 2022. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
  2. ^ Aḵẖtar, Jāvīd; Kabir, Nasreen Munni (2002). Talking Films: Conversations on Hindi Cinema with Javed Akhtar. Oxford University Press. p. 49. ISBN 978-0-19-566462-1. JA: I write dialogue in Urdu, but the action and descriptions are in English. Then an assistant transcribes the Urdu dialogue into Devnagari because most people read Hindi. But I write in Urdu. Not only me, I think most of the writers working in this so-called Hindi cinema write in Urdu: Gulzar, or Rajinder Singh Bedi or Inder Raj Anand or Rahi Masoom Raza or Vahajat Mirza, who wrote dialogue for films like Mughal-e-Azam and Gunga Jumna and Mother India. So most dialogue-writers and most song-writers are from the Urdu discipline, even today.
  3. ^ Chaudhuri, Diptakirti (1 October 2015). Written by Salim-Javed: The Story of Hindi Cinema's Greatest Screenwriters. Penguin UK. ISBN 9789352140084.
  4. ^ Khan, Mansoor (24 July 2014). "Dilip Kumar: Manoj Kumar is a brilliant director!". www.glamsham.com. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
  5. ^ a b c "Rewind - Forty Years Of Historic Blockbuster KRANTI". boxofficeindia.com. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
  6. ^ Roshmila Bhattacharya (8 February 2018). "This Week That Year: Whipping up a revolution with Manoj Kumar's Kranti". Mumbai Mirror. Retrieved 18 October 2021.
  7. ^ "Boxofficeindia.com". 15 January 2013. Archived from the original on 15 January 2013. Retrieved 18 October 2021.
  8. ^ "Dilip Kumar Death: From 'Devdas' to 'Mughal-e-Azam', iconic films of the 'Tragedy King'". Free Press Journal. Retrieved 18 October 2021.
  9. ^ "Kranti at 40: Celebrating the classic film with 20 fun facts". EasternEye. 3 February 2021. Retrieved 18 October 2021.