Actor Shiva Rajkumar Lauds Prashanth Varma’s HanuMan; Film Dominates Box Office

Teja Sajja and director Prasanth Varma’s movie HanuMan has achieved remarkable success, surpassing Rs 100 crore globally. The film received acclaim from Kannada actors Shiva Rajkumar, Rishab Shetty, and Dhananjaya during a screening, while Nandamuri Balakrishna, also known as Balayya, watched and praised it in Hyderabad.

HanuMan is emerging as a Sankranti success, along with Mahesh Babu’s Guntur Kaaram. HanuMan, a superhero film, hit theatres on January 12 with a nationwide release in various languages. Director Prasanth Varma showcased the movie to Kannada superstar Shiva Rajkumar, earning praise from actors Rishab Shetty and Dhananjaya. Teja Sajja expressed gratitude on X (formerly Twitter), sharing pictures with Shiva Rajkumar and thanking him for his positive remarks about the film.

Prasanth Varma’s HanuMan, starring Teja Sajja in the lead role, features a cast including Amritha Aiyer, Varalaxmi Sarathkumar, Raj Deepak Shetty, and Vijay Rai. Set in the fictional village of Anjanadri, the film marks the initiation of the Prasanth Varma Cinematic Universe.

During the pre-release event, Megastar Chiranjeevi, as the chief guest, announced that Rs 5 from each ticket would be donated to Ayodhya’s Ram Mandir. The filmmaker later revealed in an interview that they contributed Rs 14 lakh to the Ram Temple from the film’s opening day collection.

HanuMan has surpassed Mahesh Babu’s Guntur Kaaram in daily collections, despite opening to only a fifth of its first-day earnings. Fueled by positive word-of-mouth and despite a smaller budget, absence of major stars, and a young director, the film made Rs 12.75 crore on its fifth day, reaching a total domestic earnings of Rs 68 crore. With this momentum, ‘HanuMan’ is poised to potentially cross the Rs 100 crore mark domestically by Friday or Saturday.

HanuMan achieved a 68% occupancy on day five for the Telugu version, with evening and night shows reaching 70%. Notably, shows in Hyderabad and Vijayawada recorded over 90% occupancy. However, the Hindi version lagged with only a 12% occupancy, indicating a slower crossover. In contrast, ‘Guntur Kaaram’ reportedly earned Rs 11 crore in India on its fifth day, bringing its domestic collections to Rs 94 crore.