Bollywood 100 Crore Club is an unofficial designation by the Indian film trade and the media, related to Hindi language films that have net ₹100 crore (1 billion Indian rupees) or more in India after deducting the entertainment tax. It emerged after Aamir Khan's film Ghajini (2008 film) became the first indian film to net gross over 100 crore domestically. Afterwards, the same actor's films 3 Idiots, Dhoom 3 and PK (film) expanded the club to 200, 300, 400, 500, 600 and 700 crore. As of 2012, the 100 crore box office target had become "a new benchmark for a film to be declared a hit" and those affiliated with the 100 Crore Club were considered part of the "elite strata" within the Bollywood film community. In their annual awards for 2012, Zee Cine Awards added a category "The Power Club Box Office" to recognise directors whose films had reached the 100 crore mark. The 100 Crore Club designation has replaced previous Bollywood indications of success which had included great music, the "Silver Jubilee" or the "Diamond Jubilee" (films that ran for 75 weeks in theatres). The concentration on reaching the club has been criticised, with Arshad Warsi, an actor who is not part of the 100 crore club, stating, "I find this whole Rs. 100 crore club very stupid. How can every film releasing lately do a business of Rs. 100 crores all of a sudden? Instead of this, we need to concentrate on making good films."
The Hindustan Times claims that their magazine Brunch coined the term. Initially the term applied only to the lead male actor. Komal Nahta stated that "excluding women from the group is characteristic of an industry which exercises gender discrimination more than other industries." By 2013, the usage had expanded to variously include the film itself, the director, and the lead female actor.
The 100 crore domestic box office became possible in part because of a steady rise in the ticket price, a tripling in the number of theaters and an increase in the number of prints of a film being released. However, DNA reported that "Filmmakers and distributors too are known to leave no stone unturned in their attempt to cross over to the right side" of the 100 crore mark." The Times of India cancelled its "Box Office" column in November 2013 because "The stakes of filmmakers have increased so much that they are willing to go any distance to manipulate and jack up their numbers to beat each other's records." and the Times felt they were no longer able to provide accurate enough figures because "Films that have not reached the '100 crore mark but are close will insist that they have reached the `100 crore figure as they can't resist being in the '100 crore club.'"
Shahid Kapoor, another actor who is not part of the 100 crore club, called the designation a "fad" which was leading to "massy films which are very basic in their understanding and high on entertainment. But if we run only to achieve those figures then we will restrict ourselves as actors" On the other hand, Dibakar Banerjee, while agreeing with Kapoor about the impact on content stated, "I hope the club stays and grows to many more crores. Films as they do more business boost the confidence of audience and investors alike and everybody benefits." Priyanka Chopra said that being part of films in the 100 Crore Club allowed her to also do less commercial "women oriented films", and lamented that as of December 2013 no woman oriented films had achieved the 100 Crore Club designation.
Variations of the "Bollywood 100 Crore Club" came into use, such as the "Bollywood 400 Crore Club" when the film Chennai Express reported box office receipts of 400 crore in 2013, and the "Tollywood 600 Crore Club", which relates to Telugu films that have earned over ₹650 crore (US$97 million) in 2016 film Baahubali: The Beginning and first Tollywood to enter "100 Crore club" was 2011 film Dookudu.
In May 2016, Sairat become the first Marathi film to gross over ₹100 crore (US$15 million) worldwide.
In 2016, Pulimurugan became the first Malayalam film to enter the club.