Hanuman Ansh has been the biggest surprise of the year at the Indian box office. But its Telugu version has delivered a shock of a different kind. Released on October 9, the Telugu version collected only around ₹5 Cr gross in India over its entire opening weekend, far below what everyone expected from a film of this stature.
The ₹2 Cr Film That Stunned Everyone
To understand why this is a shock, look at what Hanuman Ansh has done in Hindi. Made on a budget of just ₹2 Cr, the film has collected more than ₹400 Cr gross in Hindi. It started slow, but word of mouth kept pushing it higher week after week, and the film went on a rampage at the box office long after its release.
Written and directed by Vishal Chaturvedi, Hanuman Ansh is based on the life and teachings of Neem Karoli Baba, with Shobhinaw Satyaa playing the lead role. For a film with no big stars and a tiny budget, the run has been nothing short of sensational.
Big Expectations in Telugu, Small Numbers
Telugu audiences have always embraced devotional and mythological films in a big way, so the expectations for the Telugu version were huge. After a few postponements due to some issues, Hombale Films, the banner behind KGF and Kantara, took charge and released the film in Telugu on October 9.
But the response has been very low. Around ₹5 Cr gross in India for the full weekend is nowhere close to what was expected. One big reason could be timing. The Hindi version has been running in theatres for over two months, and many audiences in the Telugu States, especially in cities, had already watched it in Hindi.
₹500 Cr Now Looks Tough
The worldwide gross of Hanuman Ansh is now closer to ₹450 Cr and is all set to cross that mark soon. With the Telugu release, there were strong expectations that the film would easily enter the ₹500 Cr club. That equation has now changed.
The Telugu version has not performed as expected, and the Hindi version is also slowing down, which is natural for a film in its 10th week. In fact, posting numbers in the 10th week itself is a big achievement for any film. But without a strong push from Telugu, reaching ₹500 Cr now looks out of reach.
A Blockbuster Either Way
The Telugu result does not take anything away from what Hanuman Ansh has achieved. A ₹2 Cr film grossing ₹450 Cr worldwide is one of the greatest box office stories in Indian cinema. The Telugu version was a chance to make that story even bigger, and that chance has slipped away.
