Bollywood has been going through a rough patch at the box office with just a few films having performed well. Big budgets movies like Aamir Khan’s ‘Laal Singh Chaddha’ failed to draw audiences to theatres and tanked at the box office, while low-budget movies like ‘The Kashmir Files’ did wonder at the box office.
Let's look at a few low-budget Bollywood movies which have performed exceptionally well.
The Kashmir Files (2022)
Directed and written by Vivek Agnihotri, the film is based on the 1990s exodus of Kashmiri Hindus from Kashmir. The film starred Anupam Kher, Darshan Kumar, and Pallavi Joshi among others. The film was released on March 11, 2022, and with great opening at the box office. The film was made on a small budget of ₹25 crores, while it earned nearly ₹340.92 crores worldwide and emerged as one of the highest-grossing Hindi films of 2022.
Vicky Donor (2012)
The debut film of Ayushmann Khurrana and Yami Gautam was directed by Shoojit Sircar. The story is about sperm donation and infertility. The film was released on April 20, 2012, in theatres and saw a great opening. The film was made with a budget of ₹15 crores, but it earned ₹66.32 crores worldwide. At the 60th National Film Awards, Vicky Donor won the National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment.
Kahani (2012)
Directed by Sujoy Ghosh, the film starred Vidya Balan in the lead role. The film is based on the story of Vidya Bagchi, a pregnant woman, who goes looking for her missing husband. The film was released on March 9, 2012. It was made on a small budget of ₹80 crores and it earned ₹1.04 billion worldwide in 50 days.
Stree (2018)
The horror-comedy, starring Shraddha Kapoor and Rajkummar Rao, was directed by Amar Kaushik. The film is about the people of Chanderi who live in constant fear of Stree, the spirit of a woman, who attacks men at night during festivals. The movie was released in theatres on August 31, 2018. Made on a budget of ₹20 crores, the film made a gross collection of ₹180.76 crores. ‘Stree’ entered the ₹100 crore club within 18 days of its release.
Badhaai Ho (2018)
Directed by Amit Ravindernath Sharma, the film starred Ayushmann Khurrana alongside Neena Gupta, Gajraj Rao, Surekha Sikri, and Sanya Malhotra. The comedy-drama is the story of an aged couple who announce their pregnancy to the family and this results in chaos.
The movie, which was released on October 18, 2018, was a commercial hit. It was made on a budget of ₹29 crores and it earned over ₹221.44 crores. It also won two National Film Awards including Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment.
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