- Hanuman Ansh released on August 7 with over 350 shows across India initially
- Show count dropped from 250 to 25 due to competition and multiplex skepticism
- Filmmaker Vishal and team toured cities to engage audiences and boost screenings
Hanuman Ansh has emerged as a sleeper hit and has turned into one of the more unexpected box-office success stories of recent weeks.
What's Happening
The film, which was released on August 7, reportedly began its theatrical run with hundreds of shows across the country.
Hanuman Ansh initially had more than 350 shows across India. But competition from other releases reduced its theatrical presence considerably.
While speaking on The Raunac Podcast, Vishal said, "People drove this film. Theatres with big films scheduled to release chopped our screen count. From 250, our show count came down to 25. Multiplexes like PVR and Cinepolis in prime locations were skeptical about running our shows."
The sudden drop in shows made Vishal believe that his passion project might have failed. During this period, an Instagram post gave him an unexpected push.
He said, "Amid all this uncertainty, I came across a post on Instagram, which I usually ignore. These are the posts that people write on their own and present as messages from Maharaj Ji. Deep down, I had a feeling that my film had tanked. However, at a time like this, the post read, 'Do your work, I will take care of the rest.' That weirdly motivated me at the end of the first week."
Rather than relying only on conventional promotions, Vishal decided to travel with his team and meet viewers himself. On the Friday before Independence Day, he went to Surat with lead actor Shobinav Satyaa and music composer Rishi Pathak.
The team arrived while the film was being screened. The response they received from the audience eventually changed the theatre owner's approach towards the film.
He shared, "We left for Surat, where they had put just one show. We reached at a time when the show was running. When they saw the public's reaction to seeing us-hugging us and crying-the owner was left speechless. That guy started calling other theatres, and the number of shows increased. Then we moved to Vadodara and Aligarh, among other places and the shows increased massively."
Vishal and his team subsequently travelled to several locations, visiting theatres and temples while interacting directly with audiences.
In Aligarh, he claimed, the first show added that week sold out within 15 minutes.
The film's theatrical journey subsequently picked up momentum, with Hanuman Ansh now nearing the Rs 75 crore mark, according to the information shared by the filmmaker. He has also said that the film was made on a budget of Rs 2 crore and is headed for an international release.
'Bollywood Didn't Help'
Hanuman Ansh arrived in theatres alongside Awarapan 2 and Batwara.
Despite the film's eventual success, Vishal said he did not receive the kind of support from the Hindi film industry that he had hoped for when the film was struggling.
He said, "After the film started to do well, several people called me to congratulate me. I don't want to name them. One of those who congratulated me was Madhur Bhandarkar, whom I had not asked for any support. However, I am not mentioning the others because I had sought help from those people and they didn't help me. Hence, I don't want to name them for now just because they are congratulating me."
He added, "People mostly don't know what is going to work, but yet they pass on their gyaan to others. The industry is filled with confused people. There are two sets of people-one who genuinely want to make films, and others who don't have any passion and think filmmaking is something they should try."