Hanuman Ansh box office Day 26: Rs 2-crore hit beats Yash's Toxic on Tuesday

Hanuman Ansh earned an estimated Rs 8.50 crore nett in India on Day 26, edging past Toxic's Rs 8.20 crore Day 7 total. The result highlights the devotional drama's exceptional fourth-week surge, driven by sustained word of mouth.

In Short

• Hanuman Ansh collected Rs 8.50 crore nett in India on Day 26
• The film's India total rose to Rs 54.13 crore after Tuesday
• Its fourth week alone delivered Rs 42.25 crore across five remarkable days

Hanuman Ansh has pulled off another remarkable box-office feat. The devotional drama collected an estimated Rs 8.50 crore nett in India on Day 26, beating Yash-starrer Toxic: A Fairy Tale for Grown-ups, which earned Rs 8.20 crore nett on its seventh day. The difference may be only Rs 30 lakh, but the context makes the comparison striking: Hanuman Ansh achieved the figure in its fourth week, while Toxic managed it during the first week of its theatrical run.

Directed by Vishal Chaturvedi, Hanuman Ansh opened in theatres on August 7 to a modest Rs 10 lakh. What initially appeared to be a film with limited theatrical prospects has transformed into one of the biggest surprise success stories of the year. Its collections have steadily grown through word of mouth, with the film now continuing to command substantial footfalls more than three weeks after release.

According to trade tracker Sacnilk, Hanuman Ansh had collected Rs 45.63 crore nett in India by the end of Day 25. Its Day 26 collection of Rs 8.50 crore nett has taken its total India nett collection to Rs 54.13 crore. Its India gross now stands at Rs 63.82 crore.

The film's fourth week has been particularly extraordinary, with collections of Rs 6.25 crore on Friday, Rs 9.25 crore on Saturday, Rs 12.75 crore on Sunday, Rs 5.50 crore on Monday and Rs 8.50 crore on Tuesday. That adds up to Rs 42.25 crore in just five days of its fourth week.

Check out day-wise box office collection in India (nett):

The Tuesday number is especially significant because Hanuman Ansh not only held on after the weekend but actually recorded a sizeable jump from Monday's Rs 5.50 crore. Its Day 26 occupancy stood at around 46 per cent, with the strongest numbers coming during the night shows, which recorded 70.15 per cent occupancy. The film was particularly strong in markets such as Delhi-NCR and Jaipur, where overall occupancy was 57.8 per cent and 71 per cent respectively.

Hanuman Ansh vs Toxic

The comparison with Toxic makes the latest figure even more fascinating.

Yash's Toxic, directed by Geetu Mohandas, was one of the year's biggest theatrical releases. It opened to a massive Rs 101.10 crore nett in India on August 26, setting up expectations for a huge run. After its extended opening weekend, however, the film witnessed a sharp weekday correction. Its Day 6 collection was reported at Rs 7.45 crore, while its Day 7 figure came in at Rs 8.20 crore nett in India.

So, on Tuesday, Hanuman Ansh — a film that had been in theatres for 26 days — earned Rs 8.50 crore, marginally more than Toxic's Rs 8.20 crore on its seventh day.

This is not to suggest that Hanuman Ansh is competing with Toxic on an overall scale. The two films belong to entirely different box-office leagues. Toxic opened across a massive number of screens and had a worldwide theatrical rollout, while Hanuman Ansh started with a tiny footprint and gradually expanded as audience demand grew.

In fact, that expansion is one of the most remarkable aspects of the film's run. By Day 25, Hanuman Ansh was playing across thousands of shows, after initially opening with only a few hundred. India Today's earlier analysis noted that the film was running across 6,587 shows on its 25th day, while Toxic had 13,400 shows on its sixth day.

From Rs 10 lakh opening to Rs 54 crore

The journey of Hanuman Ansh is what makes its Day 26 figure extraordinary.

The film began its theatrical run with just Rs 10 lakh on August 7. There was little indication during its opening days that it would turn into a major box-office performer. But instead of collapsing after the first weekend, the film slowly found an audience.

Its third week already showed signs of a turnaround. It collected Rs 10.40 crore during Week 3, including Rs 2.35 crore on its third Tuesday. Then came its explosive fourth weekend, with the film earning Rs 6.25 crore on Friday, Rs 9.25 crore on Saturday and Rs 12.75 crore on Sunday.

The Sunday figure was particularly significant as it became the film's highest single-day collection at that point. The momentum then carried into the weekdays, with Rs 5.50 crore nett on Monday followed by another Rs 8.50 crore nett on Tuesday.

The film's success is even more impressive considering its reported budget of around Rs 2 crore. Trade reports have described it as a sleeper hit, with its theatrical earnings now many times its production cost. The film's director has also pushed back against early attempts to label it a flop, arguing that its eventual audience response proved those initial judgments premature.

Word of mouth changes everything

The contrasting trajectories of Hanuman Ansh and Toxic offer an interesting snapshot of the current theatrical market.

Toxic had the scale, star power, massive opening and enormous promotional machinery to make an immediate impact. Hanuman Ansh, meanwhile, had virtually none of those advantages. It opened quietly and had to build its audience one show at a time.

But more than three weeks into its run, the devotional drama is still producing numbers that many new releases would be happy to record during their opening week.

That is perhaps the most important takeaway from its Day 26 performance. A film that opened at Rs 10 lakh is now earning Rs 8.50 crore on a Tuesday — and has crossed Rs 54 crore nett in India.

Its latest achievement against Toxic may be only a Rs 30 lakh difference, but it underlines just how dramatically Hanuman Ansh has changed its box-office fortunes. What started as an under-the-radar release has now become a genuine theatrical phenomenon, powered almost entirely by sustained audience interest and word of mouth.

- Ends