Small Wonders, Big Numbers

Low- and mid-budget films—with rooted stories, age-appropriate casting and traditional marketing—are raking in the moolah. Why is the audience rejecting superstar-led projects?

- By KUNAL PURANDARE

Two months before its release, Yash Raj Films (YRF) honcho Aditya Chopra watched a rough cut of Saiyaara and predicted it would cross ₹100 crore. He was confident of that even if the opening was in low single digits. “To be honest, I thought he was being overly optimistic in this environment,” Mohit Suri, the director of Saiyaara, tells Forbes India, alluding to the lull at the box office in the last five years. But Chopra’s prediction about the romantic musical drama came true.

A YRF production starring newcomers Ahaan Panday and Aneet Padda, Saiyaara created havoc at the box office since its theatrical release on July 18. Made on a budget of a little over ₹45 crore, the film earned ₹570 crore worldwide with net India collections of ₹329 crore. The first weekend brought in ₹89 crore net, including ₹28.75 crore on the opening day.

Saiyaara is one among many small- and mid-budget films in the recent times that have consistently outperformed several star-driven blockbusters. In the last couple of years, Bollywood and South Indian movies such as Munjya, Laapataa Ladies, Hanu-Man, Madgaon Express, Manjummel Boys, Srikanth, Tourist Family, Lokah: Chapter 1-Chandra, Little Hearts, Mahavtar Narsimha and Su From So have fared better than some of the big-budget films riding on superstars.

“ If the audience feels they ’ve been taken for a ride or extremely undermined in terms of their intellect, they reject the film.”

ADITYA SARPOTDAR, filmmaker

For instance, Munjya—a horror comedy about a Maharashtrian folklore headlined by 27-year-old actor Abhay Verma—made with a budget of ₹35 crore grossed ₹132 crore globally, including ₹35 crore in the opening week.

Aditya Sarpotdar, the director of