‘Hanuman Ansh’ Indian Sleeper Hit Goes Global via Hombale Strategy

Indian devotional film “Hanuman Ansh” has grossed more than $3.5 million outside its home territory since Hombale Films took it to international audiences, and the company behind the blockbuster “K.G.F” and “Kantara” franchises has now detailed how it engineered the run.

Written and directed by Vishal Chaturvedi and adapted from his book “Divine Detour: That Changed My Life,” the film follows Lakshman Das, a boy who leaves home after his mother dies, searching for the divine. Years of wandering and meditation later, he becomes the saint Neem Karoli Baba, known to devotees as Maharaj-ji. Shobhinaw Satyaa plays the title role opposite Chandan Anand, with Vihaan Shedge as the teenage Maharaj-ji and Anil Rastogi and Purnima Tiwari in supporting roles. Chaturvedi produced with Ragini Sona, Namrata G. Singh and Anupriya A. Nagar under his Swambhu Media Network banner.

“Our strategy involved taking ownership of all global territories and collaborating with the biggest local partners in each region to ensure the best possible release footprint. By leveraging the data and learnings from our previous releases like ‘Mahavatar Narsimha,’ we were able to tap into the right locations and cinema chains. This targeted approach has yielded spectacular numbers,” says Hombale Films producer Chaluve Gowda.

The Bengaluru banner partnered with Phars in the GCC and Prathyangara in North America, and the film opened internationally on Sept. 11. It marks a first for the company.

“‘Hanuman Ansh’ is the first film outside of our own productions that we have full fledgedly distributed internationally. We truly believed in this project, as it perfectly aligns with our vision of taking Indian stories global,” Gowda says.

North America leads the overseas tally, with $1.8 million from the U.S. and Canada, according to Hombale’s territory figures. Australia and New Zealand contributed $606,716 and the Gulf Cooperation Council region $577,870, with the U.K. adding $269,837. Singapore brought in $61,334 and Europe $41,171, while the rest of the world accounted for $483,006.

Hombale previously backed the animated “Mahavatar Narsimha,” which went on to do more than INR300 crore ($31.3 million) in business.

At home, the film has been a sleeper. Made for approximately INR2 crore ($209,000), “Hanuman Ansh” opened in India on Aug. 7 on some 250 screens through Cinépolis India. Word of mouth pushed it past 2,000 screens, and it has since grossed INR340.7 crore ($35.5 million) in seven weeks.

Chaturvedi has planned the film as the first part of a trilogy.

“We will always support the makers in bringing their ultimate vision to life. These are exactly the kinds of stories we want to champion as a production house, and we will continue to back creators who dare to tell such grand stories with all their heart,” Gowda says.