When Kishore Kumar started praying for his own film to flop, luck made him a superhit.

New Delhi. Kishore Kumar, the great singer, actor and producer of Hindi cinema, was known for his brilliant singing as well as his unique nature and funny stories. Many incidents related to his life remain a topic of discussion among people even today. One such interesting story is related to the name of his superhit film Chalti Gaadi. It is said that during the making of this film, Kishore Kumar wanted his own film to flop at the box office. However, fate had something else in store and this film later became one of his biggest successes.

It is said that during the year 1958, Kishore Kumar was involved in income tax related matters. He had huge tax arrears and to get out of this problem he made a different plan. His view was that if he made a film that would fail at the box office, he would suffer huge financial losses. The tax burden can be reduced by adjusting this loss in the income.

With this thought in mind, he started producing Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi in collaboration with director Satyen Bose. Madhubala was given the lead role in the film while Kishore Kumar appeared on screen with his brothers. This film was produced in Hindi as well as in Bengali language where it was released under the name Lukchuri.

It is said that Kishore Kumar wanted in his heart that the audience would not like the film and his plan would succeed. But after release the story completely changed. The film received tremendous love from the audience and became one of the biggest successful films of that era. Due to its brilliant comedy, strong acting and memorable songs, the film did well at the box office and ran in theaters for a long time.

Made with a budget of around Rs 35 lakh, this film did a business of around Rs 1 crore twenty-five lakh at the Indian box office, while its worldwide earning reached around Rs 2.5 crore. According to that time, this was considered a huge success. The unexpected success of the film ruined Kishore Kumar’s entire tax saving plan as instead of showing losses, he made huge profits.

It is said that his case related to Income Tax continued in the courts for a long time. However, the positive aspect of this whole incident was that Indian cinema got a classic comedy film which even today the audience likes to watch with the whole family. Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi became a memorable film with time and its songs and characters are still fresh in people’s memories. This is the reason why this unique story of Kishore Kumar still spreads smiles among film lovers.