In the film industry, content has become king, and the success of Teja Sajja’s superhero movie HanuMan demonstrated once more that even low-budget movies can draw crowds to theaters. This Telugu film, which was written and directed by Prashant Verma, has outperformed films like Guntur Kaaram, starring Mahesh Babu, and Captain Miller, starring Dhanush, at the box office both domestically and internationally. Prior to HanuMan, a number of low-budget films, including Kantara, 777 Charlie, Geetha Govindam, and numerous others, had a successful run at the box office during a period when high-profile, big-budget productions had not. The list of enjoyable South Indian small-budget films that have made over Rs 100 crore at the box office is provided below.
- Firstly, Kantara
Kantara, a movie written, directed, and starring Rishab Shetty, is a prime illustration of how a well-made movie can do incredibly well at the box office. The 2022 action thriller, which was produced for a mere Rs 16 crore, brought in an incredible Rs 400 crore worldwide, as per a report by India TV. The Kannada film’s critical and economic success encouraged the filmmakers to come back with a prequel for the 2022 movie.
- Bala Thiruchitram
Dhanush worked with Nithya Menen, Bharathiraja, Prakash Raj, and Raashii Khanna on the enjoyable romantic comedy Thiruchitrambalam after starring in the Russo Brothers’ action thriller The Gray Man on Netflix. According to a News18 report, the Rs 30 crore film, directed by Mithran R. Jawahar, ended up grossing approximately Rs 110 crore at the box office. Additionally, the movie became one of the 2022 highest-grossing Tamil movies.
- The Karthikeya sequel
In 2022, Karthikeya 2, the mythological action thriller starring Nikhil Siddhartha and Anupama Parameswaran, became a silent hit. The News18 report states that the Telugu film, which was produced for a budget of Rs 15 crore, performed better at the box office than Aamir Khan’s Laal Singh Chaddha and Raksha Bandhan, which starred Akshay Kumar. The film’s global revenue was Rs 121 crore.
- Charlie, 777
Another popular Kannada film from 2022 that was produced on a meager budget of almost Rs 20 crore is this one. A lonely factory worker receives a new lease on life when a dog named Charlie enters his life. Rakshit Shetty and Sangeetha Sringeri play important roles in the story of 777 Charlie. The 69th National Film Awards saw the dramatic film take home the Best Feature Film in Kannada title. Over Rs 150 crore was made by the movie at the box office, according to a News18 report.
- Geetha Govindam, fifth
Written and directed by Parasuram, Geetha Govindam is a romantic comedy-drama. The film, which starred Rashmika Mandanna and Vijay Deverakonda in the lead roles, was a big box office hit. As reported by News18, Geetha Govindam made 132 crore rupees at the box office, with a meager budget of just Rs 5 crore. Before contacting Vijay Deverakonda, the producers reportedly offered Allu Arjun the main role.
- HanuMan
HanuMan, the Telugu superhero film starring Teja Sajja, is reported to have made Rs 104 crore domestically and Rs 142.6 crore internationally, despite fierce competition from Mahesh Babu’s Guntur Kaaram and Dhanush’s action-thriller Captain Miller in Tamil. Based on multiple online reports, the 2-hour and 38-minute film was made on a budget of Rs 20 crore and released in multiple languages, including Telugu, Malayalam, Tamil, Hindi, and Kannada.
- 2018
According to a Times of India report, Tovino Thomas’ survival drama 2018, which was made on a budget of Rs 20 crore, became the fastest Malayalam film to enter the Rs 100 crore club (in just 10 days). The movie, which is based on the 2018 Kerala floods that shook the entire country, is directed by Jude Anthany Joseph. In supporting parts in the movie were Kunchacko Boban, Asif Ali, Vineeth Sreenivasan, Narain, and Lal.
Topics #box office #Geetha Govindam #HanuMan #Kantara #South Indian #Teja Sajja
