Hanuman Ansh is currently in its tenth week and continues to pull in audiences. The devotional saga opened at just Rs. 10 lakhs and has gone on to collect nearly Rs. 322 crores and counting. What has stunned the trade, industry and movie buffs alike is that the film was reportedly made on a budget of just Rs. 2 crores. Hence, its return on investment (ROI) is historic, to say the least. In a recent interview, one of its producers, Namrata Singh, revealed for the first time the film’s actual budget and a detailed break-up of its expenses. Interestingly, she also disclosed that Haldiram’s, the popular Indian snacks and sweets giant, had invested in the film.
Talking to The Economic Times, Namrata Singh said, “The film was made at a total cost of Rs 1.7 crore. Haldiram’s provided Rs 1.25 crore towards prints and advertising (P&A) as part of the co-production arrangement. 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.”
She further said, “One of the film’s producers, Ragini Sona, is director Vishal Chaturvedi’s friend. They have known each other for a long time. They used to recite the Hanuman Chalisa together as part of a Hanuman club they ran. So, when we needed funding, Vishal approached her. She is an experienced producer. Her insights were valuable. 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.”
Namrata Singh added, “We needed additional funding for post-production. That is when Anupriya A Nagar, daughter of the UK-based financier Anshul Nagar, came on board as an investor, and she financed the post-production.”
She also said, “We had a shareholders’ agreement. The arrangement was structured around the four of us, with each holding a 25% share in the IP, along with a three-year lock-in period and other agreed terms.”
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