Yami Gautam’s ‘Article 370’, exploring the PMO’s decision to amend Article 370, collected an impressive Rs 6.12 crore on day 1. Reduced ticket rates heightened anticipation, setting the stage for this strong debut. The film, shot on a budget of Rs 20 crore, is expected to collect at least Rs 7 crore on the second day.
Directed by Aditya Suhas Jambhale, it also features Raj Arjun and Priya Mani.
This interestingly, isn’t the first ‘small film’ to set the box office on fire in recent times. Here is a look at some other films which achieved this feat.
Hanu Man is a Telugu language film about a youngster who gets the powers of Lord Hanuman and fights for an imaginary place called Anjanadri. The film is directed by Prasanth Varma and stars Teja Sajja, Amritha Aiyer and Varalaxmi Sarathkumar. It collected ₹199.81 crore on a budget of 40 crore despite the absence of A-list stars.
Shot on a budget of just ₹20 crore, the film made ₹57 crore in India. Directed by Vidhu Vinod Chopra it stars Vikrant Massey as Manoj Kumar Sharma, a simpleton from a small village, and highlights his attempts at becoming an IPS officer. Medha Shankr and Joshi Anantvijay also star in the film.
Shot on a budget of ₹30 crore, the film made ₹220 crore in India and became the fifth highest grossing Hindi film of the year. ‘The Kerala Story’ managed to amass a remarkable nett collection of ₹242.2 crore, This film stars Adah Sharma, Yogita Bihani and Sonia Balani. It explores the themes of religious conversion and terrorism.
The film, shot on a budget of ₹ 25 crore, earned ₹252 crore crore in India to emerge as a blockbuster. It set a precedent by recouping most of its budget within the first weekend of its global release. The film is directed by Vivek Agnihotri and stars Mithun Chakraborty, Anupam Kher, Darshan Kumar, and Pallavi Joshi. It highlights the tragic genocide of Kashmiri Pandits in the 1990s, a dark chapter in Indian history.
Kantara is a Kannada language film which collected a huge amount of ₹309.64 crore on a meagre budget of ₹16 crore. Directed by Rishab Shetty, the film stars him along with Kishore and Achyuth Kumar. It revolves around a Kambala champion who is at loggerheads with an upright forest officer.
Karthikeya 2 is a sequel to 2014 Telugu language film Karthikeya. It is directed by Chandoo Mondeti and stars Nikhil Siddhartha and Anupama Parameswaran. In the film the protagonist is on a quest to find the lost anklet of Lord Krishna. Shot on a budget of approximately ₹15 crore, it made a collection of ₹86.75 crore at the box office.
*All collections in nett unless mentioned otherwise