Kerala Story: Adah Sharma Enters The Big League

Adah Sharma is officially in the big league.

For an actress who made her big screen debut in 2008 with the hit horror film, 1920, it's about time she gets her due.

Her latest film The Kerala Story has emerged as the highest-grossing female-centric film ever and that too in a record 11 days!

Joginder Tuteja lists the highest-grossing female-centric films.

 

The Kerala Story
Box office collection: Rs 136 crore* (still running in theatres)

Announced in November with a short teaser, there was a lot of silence around The Kerala Story until its trailer arrived and made an instant impact.

Since its release, it has been breaking records.

It scored the biggest first day, first weekend and first week for a female-centric film and marched into the Rs 100 crore club in just nine days.

Gangubai Kathiawadi
Box office collection: Rs 129.10 crore

Bollywood's top actress Alia Bhatt scored big with Sanjay Leela Bhansali's period drama Gangubai Kathiawadi, which released soon after the third wave of the pandemic ended.

There was a lot of risk surrounding the film's release since no one knew when theatres would shut down again.

None of that happened, as Alia won the audiences over with her powerful performance.

 

Raazi
Box office collection: Rs 124 crore

Before Gangubai Kathiawadi, it was Alia's Raazi which stood at the top spot.

Meghna Gulzar's directorial venture started on a decent note and grew from strength to strength.

It went on to score a solid century at the box office.

 

Manikarnika - The Queen of Jhansi
Box office collection: Rs 92.19 crore

Kangana Ranaut's Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi

The historical took a good opening and sustained at the box office.

 

Veere Di Wedding
Box office collection: Rs 83 crore

This one was a surprise at the box office.

With Kareena Kapoor Khan and Sonam Kapoor leading the cast, Swara Bhaskar and Shikha Talsania giving good performances, this all-girls film was rather bold even for today's generation.

Moreover, it was released during pre-OTT, when such kind of content wasn't commonplace.

Audiences liked what they saw and made the film a superhit.

 

The Dirty Picture
Box office collection: Rs 80 crore

When Ekta Kapoor was announced that Vidya Balan would be playing the sensational Silk Smitha, there was a lot of curiosity about how Director Milan Luthria would present the story.

Even though Naseeruddin Shah, Emraan Hashmi and Tusshar Kapoor starred as well, it was a Vidya Balan show all the way.

 

Neerja
Box office collection: Rs 75.65 crore

Based on the true story of air hostess Neerja Bhanot, Neerja was promoted well and saw a good controlled release.

Audiences were curious to watch Ram Madhvani's dramatic thriller, starring Sonam Kapoor, and were left teary-eyed by the end.

 

Dear Zindagi
Box office collection: Rs 68 crore

It's no wonder that Alia is the Number 1 actress today, what with as many as three of her films featuring in this list.

Dear Zindagi was not an easy film to even conceptualise, let aside execute, but Director Gauri Shinde knew just what she was doing.

Shah Rukh Khan stepped in for a guest appearance but the film and its publicity focused on Alia.

 

Mary Kom
Box office collection: Rs 64 crore

With Mary Kom, Priyanka Chopra went on to deliver a very good performance.

A biopic of the iconic boxer, this Sanjay Leela Bhansali production deserved to enter the 100 Crore Club.

 

Queen
Box office collection: Rs 61 crore

The film that firmly established Kangana Ranaut as an actress to reckon with is Queen.

Though the actress had showed her mettle right from the days of Gangster and Woh Lamhe, it was Queen's super success that showed that she could pull in audiences on her own.

The film was a slow-starter at the box office but went on to gain from strength to strength.

Note: Some call Tanu Weds Manu Returns (Rs 152 crore) a female-centric film but that's an incorrect interpretation since it had R Madhavan in an equal role as Kangana Ranaut (and also in a title role).