Mughal-e-Azam tops the list of highest-grossing Indian Films, adjusted for inflation
New Delhi: Over six decades after its release, Mughal-e-Azam remains a cinematic giant in Indian cinema. When adjusted for inflation, the 1960 epic directed by K Asif has earned an astounding ₹4000 crore, surpassing modern blockbusters like Dangal, Baahubali, and RRR.
The film sold over 15 crore tickets worldwide, which is three times the number of tickets sold by recent hits like RRR or Jawan. With an average cinema ticket price in 2023 at ₹130, and double that amount in big chains like PVR INOX, films today earn exponentially more, despite lower ticket sales compared to earlier decades.
By comparison, Sholay, which has earned ₹30 crore since its release in 1975, would gross ₹3090 crore today, making it the second highest-grossing film on the list. Other notable films that earned over ₹2000 crore when adjusted for inflation include Mother India, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, and Awara.
Sources for this calculation include Box Office India, old news archives, and financial publications like Forbes, The Hindu, Mint, and Business Standard. The inflation rates and historical exchange rate changes of currencies like the dollar, pound, and rouble were also considered to provide an accurate estimation of these films' adjusted earnings.
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Traffic fraud: Fake 'no-entry' sticker racket busted in Delhi, mastermind among 3 held
New Delhi (PTI): Police here have busted a crime syndicate involved in traffic fraud and extortion, arresting three people including the alleged mastermind who sold fake stickers to help commercial vehicles bypass no-entry restrictions, an official said on Saturday.
The police said they dismantled a third organised syndicate linked to traffic-related frauds, with the arrest of Rinku Rana alias Bhushan, his associate Sonu Sharma and Mukesh Kumar alias Pakodi, who was also connected to another extortion syndicate.
According to the police, Rinku Rana was running a well-organised network that facilitated the movement of commercial goods vehicles during restricted hours by selling fake 'marka' or stickers for Rs 2,000 to Rs 5,000 per vehicle every month. The stickers were falsely projected as authorisation to evade traffic challans.
During raids, the police recovered Rs 31 lakh in cash, property documents worth several crores of rupees, over 500 fake stickers and six mobile phones allegedly used to operate the syndicate.
The crackdown followed a complaint filed by a traffic police officer in April this year after a commercial vehicle tried to evade checking by producing a fake sticker claiming exemption from enforcement action.
Investigation revealed that social media groups were being used to coordinate the illegal movement of vehicles and alert drivers about traffic police checkpoints, police said.
"A parallel system was being run to cheat drivers and vehicle owners while undermining traffic enforcement. On the basis of evidence, provisions related to organised crime under the BNS were invoked," a senior police officer said.
Sonu Sharma, the police said, managed social media groups through which stickers were sold and real-time alerts were circulated regarding traffic police movement. He also acted as a link between Rana and drivers operating in the field.
In a related development, Mukesh Kumar alias Pakodi, an associate of Rajkumar alias Raju Meena, who was earlier arrested under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), was also apprehended.
Mukesh allegedly helped extort money from transporters and was involved in blackmailing traffic police personnel by recording enforcement actions, the police said.
Investigators alleged the syndicate led by Rajkumar deployed drivers to deliberately violate traffic rules and secretly record police officials during challans, later using manipulated videos to extort money under threat of false allegations.
The police said that in total, eight accused belonging to three different organised crime syndicates linked to traffic frauds and extortion have been arrested so far.
Further investigation is underway to trace the remaining members, conduct financial probes, and analyse digital evidence recovered during the raids, officials added.
