New Delhi. Amidst the big budget and big star films, the low budget film 'Hanuman Ansh' has performed shockingly at the box office. Released on July 31, the film had earned around Rs 1.5 crore in the first two weeks, but its earnings suddenly increased in the third week. The film collected Rs 10.5 crore in the third week alone. This film, made on a budget of around Rs 1.8 to 2 crores, has now earned around Rs 12 crores.
The pace remained slow in the first two weeks
According to trade reports, 'Hanuman Ansh' had earned only Rs 10 lakh on the first day. Its collection in the first week was Rs 1.08 crore. In the second week the earnings dropped to around Rs 40 lakh. Thus, after two weeks the total collection of the film was around Rs 1.5 crore. After this, in the third week the film's earnings suddenly picked up and did a business of Rs 10.5 crore.
Took advice from Premanand Maharaj before release
Along with the film's earnings, the pre-release story is also in the news. Director and writer Vishal Chaturvedi told in a conversation with Aaj Tak that after the completion of the shooting of the film, a producer had come to meet Premanand Maharaj ji. There, advice was taken regarding the release of the film.
According to Vishal, Premanand Maharaj had advised the film's lead character to be careful about his lifestyle and eat only vegetarian food. The main lead was also asked to take special care of these things.
Rules also implemented on shooting sets
The makers implemented this advice seriously even during the shooting. According to the director, abuse and fighting were not allowed on the set. Vegetarian food was served for everyone and there was a ban on drinking alcohol by people associated with the film.
The shooting started every day with the recitation of Hanuman Chalisa and the day also ended with its recitation. Actor Shobhinav Satya, who played the character of Neem Karoli Baba in the film, also told that the entire team used to recite Hanuman Chalisa whenever there was any problem during the shooting.
When the camera did not work, the team used to recite Hanuman Chalisa.
Vishal Chaturvedi told that many times the shooting was to start at 7 in the morning, but due to technical or other reasons the camera could not start even till 10 o'clock. On such occasions he used to ask the team to recite Hanuman Chalisa. According to him, it was better to do something good during this period instead of sitting idle.
The director says that many times it happened that by the time the recitation of Hanuman Chalisa was completed, no solution was found to the problem being faced in the shooting.
There was no budget for promotion, campaign was made for 8 stores
The makers also adopted a different approach for the promotion of the film. According to Vishal, he did not have enough money when he started the promotional campaign. In such a situation, he linked the promotion of the film with spreading the message of Neem Karoli Baba to the people.
The makers organized 8 stores for this. Information about the film was conveyed to the people through these stores. Vishal told that despite all the challenges, the film got U certificate from CBFC without any problem.
Increased expectations for low budget films
The performance of 'Hanuman Ansh' has come at a time when low budget films made on spiritual and religious subjects are getting good response from the audience. The makers of the film include Ragini S, Namrata G Singh, Anupriya A Nagar and Vishal Chaturvedi.
The film has now joined those low budget films which reached the audience without big stars and huge budgets. In the last six months, films like 'Lalo' and 'Deul Band 2' have also caught the attention of the audience due to their spiritual themes.
The third week's earnings of 'Hanuman Ansh' at the box office definitely indicate that even a low budget film can achieve huge success if it has a strong spiritual story and connect with the audience.