New Delhi: Vishal Chaturvedi’s Hanuman Ansh is well on its way to becoming one of Bollywood’s most profitable films in recent years. The devotional drama is set to surpass the profit ratio of big-budget releases such as Dhurandhar: The Revenge and Toxic. Based on its reported budget and box-office collection, the film has already earned nearly 27 times its budget. Chaturvedi made the film on a budget of Rs 2 crore and has collected nearly Rs 54 crore in India.
Released on 7 August, Hanuman Ansh initially opened in only a few hundred screens. However, its growing popularity has led to a sharp increase in shows, with the film now having more than 6,500 screenings across the country.
In comparison, films such as Dhurandhar (2025) were made on a budget of nearly Rs 300 crore. The Aditya Dhar-directed action drama starred Ranveer Singh and collected around Rs 1,300 crore worldwide, which translates to roughly four times its reported budget.
Its sequel, Dhurandhar Part Two, was released in March 2026 and was made on a budget of around Rs 300 crore. It went on to collect nearly Rs 1,800 crore worldwide, around six times its reported budget.
Despite the huge collections of both films, Hanuman Ansh has surpassed the blockbusters’ reported production budget recovery.
A similar pattern can be seen with Yash-starrer Toxic: A Fairy Tale for Grown-Ups. Filmmaker Geetu Mohandas reportedly made the gangster drama on a massive budget of around Rs 500 crore but has collected nearly Rs 300 crore worldwide and is yet to recover its reported production cost.
However, what makes the success of Hanuman Ansh directed particularly remarkable is the absence of a star-studded cast or a larger-than-life screen presence often associated with big-budget films such as Dhurandhar and Toxic. The cast includes Shobhinaw Satyaa, Rajiv Mishra, Rishikesh Dubey, Hunny Bakshi and Rishi Pathak, none of whom even have established IMDb pages. With only two actors having some prior screen time: Chand K Anand has previously appeared in films such as Homebound (2025) and Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! (2008), while Purnima Tiwari has worked in the television series Pyaar Ki Raahein.
Hanuman Ansh revolves around the early life of Laxman Das, who left his home at the age of 13 following the death of his mother. The film follows his transformation from a young boy into Neem Karoli Baba, portraying his spiritual experiences, his connection with Hanuman and the miracles associated with his life. The film also explores the formation of Kainchi Dham, the ashram closely associated with Neem Karoli Baba.
(Edited by Insha Jalil Waziri)