Hanuman Ansh Producer Reveals the Real Numbers: Made for Rs 1.7 Crore, With Haldiram Putting Rs 1.25 Crore Into the Rs 300-Crore Sleeper Hit

The sleeper blockbuster Hanuman Ansh has one of the most astonishing return-on-investment stories in Indian cinema history — and now, for the first time, one of its producers has put exact numbers on it.

Speaking to The Economic Times, producer Namrata Singh revealed that the devotional saga was made at a total production cost of just Rs 1.7 crore. “Haldiram’s provided Rs 1.25 crore towards prints and advertising (P&A) as part of the co-production arrangement,” she said. “Of the P&A budget, we spent approximately Rs 65-70 lakhs on marketing, with the remaining amount going towards the release. We wanted to ensure that the film remained in theatres for three weeks, which involved an additional expenditure of over Rs 40 lakhs. The overall expenditure, including production and P&A, was approximately Rs 2.95 crore or close to Rs 3 crore.”

The film opened at a mere Rs 10 lakh on its first day, but word of mouth turned it into a phenomenon. Trade estimates place its India nett collection at nearly Rs 322 crore by its tenth week (per Bollywood Hungama), with Koimoi’s mid-October tally reaching Rs 339.13 crore India nett and Rs 441.17 crore worldwide gross — an ROI of 18,740 per cent that trade trackers describe as one of the biggest in Indian cinema history. Koimoi also notes the film hit 50 individual days of Rs 1-crore-plus grossing power, a feat only four films in Indian cinema history have managed.

Singh also shared how the film got financed when nobody else would back it. “One of the film’s producers, Ragini Sona, is director Vishal Chaturvedi’s friend. They used to recite the Hanuman Chalisa together as part of a Hanuman club they ran. When nobody else was willing to invest, Ragini offered to contribute Rs 50 lakhs on the condition that someone else matched the amount. When no one came forward, I invested Rs 50 lakhs from my mutual fund savings. That is how we managed to complete production.” Post-production brought in investor Anupriya Nagar, and the four partners structured the venture with a 25 per cent share each and a three-year lock-in on the IP.

Adding to the legend, director Vishal Chaturvedi reportedly took no upfront fee and opted for a profit-sharing arrangement instead — a decision that could now earn him upwards of Rs 50 crore, per producer Anupriya Nagar’s earlier disclosures.

Source: Bollywood Hungama (The Economic Times), Box Office Worldwide, Koimoi