Devotional film Hanuman Ansh has emerged as one of the biggest box-office surprises of the year, crossing the ₹200 crore mark worldwide despite being made on a reported budget of just ₹2 crore.
Based on the life and teachings of spiritual guru Neem Karoli Baba, the film has become the smallest Indian production to enter the ₹200 crore club. Its success is particularly striking given its extremely slow start at the box office.
Hanuman Ansh opened with earnings of only around ₹10 lakh on its first day. Its first two weeks brought in a net collection of just ₹1.48 crore. However, strong word of mouth gradually changed the film’s fortunes.
A significant turnaround came on its 16th day in theatres, after which the film began recording much stronger collections. Its third, fourth and fifth weeks proved particularly successful. The film reportedly earned ₹61 crore in its fourth week and an impressive ₹90 crore in its fifth week.
The momentum has continued into its sixth week. On its 36th day, the film collected ₹10.50 crore net on Friday alone, taking its domestic net collection to ₹174 crore.
Since the film has not yet released overseas, its current worldwide gross stands at around ₹205 crore, according to the figures reported by Hindustan Times. With a reported production budget of only ₹2 crore, the film has achieved a remarkable return and has surpassed The Kashmir Files, which was made on a reported budget of ₹15 crore, in terms of the lowest-budget films to reach the ₹200 crore club.
The film has also become the top-performing movie at the Indian box office. Its ₹10.50 crore Friday collection was higher than its previous fifth Friday haul of ₹10 crore and fourth Friday collection of ₹6.25 crore.
On Friday, Hanuman Ansh outperformed Mirzapur: The Movie, which earned ₹9.50 crore. It also stayed ahead of the newly released Haiwaan, starring Akshay Kumar and Saif Ali Khan, which opened with around ₹3 crore.
Written and directed by Vishal Chaturvedi, Hanuman Ansh follows Lakshminarayan, a grieving young man who begins a spiritual journey after his mother’s death. His search for answers about life, death and suffering eventually leads him towards becoming the revered Neem Karoli Baba.
The film stars Shobhinaw Satyaa, Vihaan Shedge, Chandan K Anand, Purnima Tiwari, Anil Rastogi, Gulshan Pandey and Bhagvandas Patel.
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