The number 100 is significant in Bollywood as well as in cricket. It is a barometer of the performance of an actor and a batsman in their respective fields.

The crowd cheers when a batsman scores a century, and the producers and distributors when a movie grosses over ₹100 crore at the box-office.

But when it came to the Indian Premier League, thanks to its hold on the public, the century of the batting variety was much more likely than the one at the box-office. The grip may be loosening, though.

A quick glance through the nine years beginning 2008 shows that IPL, which gave Bollywood box-office a run for its money in the first few years, is struggling to maintain its strike rate.

Bollywood released more than 140 movies during the nine editions of the IPL, which is played during April and May. Of them, 15 proved semi-hits while another five were average grossers. Only three managed to cross ₹100 crore at the box office even as an IPL event rolled out alongside.

Barring the Emran Hashmi’s Jannat , which revolved around a bookie involved in match fixing, the other releases in 2008 did not do well at the box office.

There were only a few releases in 2009, and none of them did well. The IPL matches were played in South Africa that year because of Lok Sabha elections.

In 2010, more than 25 Bollywood movies (highest number yet) were released during the IPL season while 2011 witnessed more than 15. Of them, small budget movies such as Love, Sex aur Dhoka in 2010, and Haunted 3D and Ragini MMS in 2011 made some money.

However, it took Bollywood khiladi Akshay Kumar to hit the first century at the box-office during the IPL season of 2012. Made with a budget of ₹72 crore, Akshay Kumar’s Houseful-2 netted ₹111 crore. More than 15 Bollywood movies were released during 2013, but Ashiqui 2 (made with a budget of ₹15 crore) alone went on to become a blockbuster with a collection of ₹78 crore.

The Lok Sabha elections of 2014 forced the IPL organisers to shift a part of the event to Dubai and play only the rest in India. Of the more than 20 movies released alongside, those starring Arjun Kapoor ( 2 States ) and debutant Tiger Shroff ( Heropanti ) went on to gross over ₹100 crore and ₹50 crore, respectively. Bollywood queens Kangana Ranaut and Deepika Padukone, along with Akshay Kumar and Amitabh Bachchan, helped the box-office during the 2015 season.

Made with a budget of ₹39 crore, Ranaut’s Tanu Weds Manu Returns grossed ₹149 crore and Akshay Kumar’s Gabbar is Back ₹86 crore. Bachchan and Padukone’s Piku went on to collect ₹78.38 crore.

Though the Khans of Bollywood prefer to time their releases during holidays such as Eid, Diwali or Christmas, Shah Rukh Khan’s Fan was released during the 2016 IPL season, and it flopped.

Now, the question is who will get to score more during the emerging 10th edition of the IPL. The contenders range from the much-awaited mega budget movie Baahubali 2: The Conclusion ; and others such as Vidya Balan’s Begum Jaan , Sonakshi Sinha’s Noor and Arjun Kapoor’s Half Girl Friend .

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