41 Years of Coolie: Amitabh Bachchan, Rishi Kapoor and Manmohan Desai's Mega Blockbuster

41 Years of Coolie:

Whenever we hear the word "Coolie," the attention of movie buffs cannot go anywhere else but to this movie. The 1983 blockbuster starring Amitabh Bachchan as Coolie literally made that word and profession quite popular across the nation. The film was a huge blockbuster all over India and was one of those rare blockbusters to make 1 crore or more in every single territory, a record that was not easy in those days, and only a few historic blockbusters have managed to do it.

Coolie starred Amitabh in the lead role, but the entire cast is what makes a complete blockbuster affair. Manmohan Desai was famous for making two-heroes or three-heroes or even bigger, multi-starrers in the 70s and 80s, and Coolllie has to be the last of his that saw a huge response from the audience (since Mard was led by Big B only). This action comedy-drama was a complete package of masala blockbusters from the golden age of the genre that became the most popular and most successful genre ever in Bollywood history.

Desai brought Rishi Kapoor to play the second lead, the Ek Duuje Ke Liye sensation, Rati Agnihotri, Waheeda Rahman as a mother, and Kader Khan as the main antagonist. Besides, Shoma Anand played the second heroine opposite Rishi's character, and Amrish Puri, Puneet Issar, Satyen Kappu, and Suresh Oberoi played supporting roles alongside the biggest contributor, the BIRD. I don't think I can ever forget that "BAAZ" ever. 

As expected, it was a smashing hit right from day one, as it opened to a bumper response. The advance ticket sales of the film saw houseful boards all over, and here's something to explain the hysteria in numbers. The film sold over 6 lakh tickets on day one in just 240 screens. The film earned Rs. 9 crore nett 18 crore gross at the box office and sold over 4.5 crore tickets. The adjusted for inflation in today's time will take the nett numbers at around 790-800 crore and the gross figures at approx. 950 crore in the domestic market. 

Desai took Bachchan as the lead actor for the first time in 1977 with Parvarish, and there was no looking back for this duo. Parvarish, Amar Akbar Anthony, Suhaag, and Naseeb were all big hits. Desh Premee was the only moderate success, or lower than others, and then they came back stronger with Coolie. Footfall-wise, this must be Desai's third biggest hit after AAA and Dharam Veer (please correct me if I am wrong). 

The film also became the talk of the town due to that severe injury Amitabh suffered during the action sequence against Puneet Issar. This is known as one of the most popular injuries in Big B's career, and this has been glorified well over the years, as we can see a text template coming as trivia in the home DVD version or the TV version of the film. This had left his fan quite worried, as I heard from the earlier generation.

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Talking about Laxmikant-Pyarelal's music album, I can see how the legacy of songs has been forwarded from the previous generation to mine and to the next one as well. I still hear my drunkard friends playing "Mujhe Peene Ka Shauk Nahin" on Sunday evening; "Lambuji Tinguji" is proper fun, "Sari Duniya Ka Bojh Hum Uthate Hai" might just be the best song ever made on Coolies, "Hum ka Ishq Hua" is a perfect romantic number, "Accident Ho Gaya" had actually become a rage during the DJ and Bluetooth era back in 2001-2008, and "Mubarak Ho Tumko Haj Ka Mahina" is a very popular number amongst Muslim audiences. Such a variety and such a complete music album for a masala film. Will we ever get so many things from one masala blockbuster in today's time? Or will we have to carry on with watch-and-forget kind of films forever?

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