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Ranveer Singh’s film Dhurandhar has rewritten several box office benchmarks. It became the first Hindi film to cross ₹800 crore in India and recently surged past Jawaan to emerge as the second highest-grossing Hindi film worldwide, with total earnings touching around ₹1,200 crore.

Yet, despite its phenomenal run, Dhurandhar remains far from the all-time record. One Bollywood film — released a decade ago — still towers above the rest with worldwide earnings exceeding ₹2,000 crore, a feat no Indian film has come close to matching.

That historic film is Dangal, led by Aamir Khan. Released in 2016 on a modest budget of about ₹70 crore, Dangal not only became Bollywood’s highest-grossing film but also India’s biggest box office success — a record that has stood unchallenged for 10 years.

Interestingly, Dangal did not even cross ₹400 crore in India. Its domestic collection stood at roughly ₹387 crore. The real magic happened overseas.

Dangal released in China in 2017 and delivered unprecedented numbers, earning around ₹1,231 crore from the Chinese box office alone. With strong performance in other international markets, the film’s worldwide gross climbed to approximately ₹2,074 crore — a figure no Indian film, including blockbusters like Baahubali 2 or Pushpa 2, has managed to surpass.

In the film, Aamir Khan portrayed former wrestler Mahavir Singh Phogat, with the story based on the real-life journey of his daughters Geeta and Babita Phogat. Directed by Nitesh Tiwari, Dangal combined emotional storytelling with universal themes of sports, discipline and gender equality, helping it resonate strongly with international audiences, especially in China.

Co-produced by Aamir Khan, his then-wife Kiran Rao and Siddharth Roy Kapur, the film also starred Sakshi Tanwar, Zaira Wasim, Fatima Sana Shaikh, Sanya Malhotra and Aparshakti Khurana.

While Dhurandhar’s ₹1,200 crore worldwide haul is extraordinary, Dangal’s ₹2,000+ crore benchmark remains firmly intact. Even a decade later, it stands as Bollywood’s biggest and most profitable box office record — one that continues to look nearly impossible to break.