Hombale Films Reveals How It Took 'Hanuman Ansh' to $3.5M Abroad

Hombale Films, the Bengaluru-based company behind the "K.G.F" and "Kantara" franchises, has grossed more than $3.5 million internationally with the devotional film "Hanuman Ansh" — and has now detailed exactly how it engineered the run.

The film is the first title outside the company's own productions that Hombale has distributed fully internationally. "We truly believed in this project, as it perfectly aligns with our vision of taking Indian stories global," producer Chaluve Gowda tells Variety.

Written and directed by Vishal Chaturvedi and adapted from his book "Divine Detour: That Changed My Life," "Hanuman Ansh" follows Lakshman Das, a boy who leaves home after his mother dies and goes in search of the divine. After years of wandering and meditation, 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.

The international rollout began Sept. 11. Hombale partnered with Phars in the Gulf Cooperation Council region and Prathyangara in North America — a structure Gowda says was deliberate from the start.

"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," Gowda says.

The territory figures bear that out. North America leads the overseas tally with $1.8 million from the U.S. and Canada, according to Hombale's numbers. Australia and New Zealand contributed $606,716, the GCC region $577,870 and the U.K. $269,837. Singapore brought in $61,334, Europe $41,171, and the rest of the world $483,006.

Hombale drew on prior experience in the devotional space: it previously backed the animated "Mahavatar Narsimha," which grossed more than INR300 crore ($31.3 million).

At home, "Hanuman Ansh" has been the sleeper hit of the season. Made for approximately INR2 crore ($209,000), it opened in India on Aug. 7 on roughly 250 screens through Cinépolis India. Word of mouth pushed it past 2,000 screens, and the film has since grossed INR340.7 crore ($35.5 million) in seven weeks — a return of more than 170 times its production budget.

Chaturvedi has planned the film as the first part of a trilogy, giving Hombale a potential franchise in the devotional genre to sit alongside its action blockbusters.

"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.

With the international run still posting figures and two further chapters planned, Hombale has signaled that acquiring and distributing third-party devotional films — not just producing its own — is now part of its playbook for taking Indian stories to global audiences.