Filmmaker questions simplistic box-office narratives while congratulating the makers of Mirzapur The Movie.
Filmmaker Anubhav Sinha publicly commented on the box-office performance of Mirzapur The Movie and Hanuman Ansh, saying neither film should be viewed as a “freak hit,” according to a Times of India report published September 5, 2026. Sinha made the remarks in a post on X, congratulating the team behind Mirzapur The Movie while linking its success to the unexpected commercial run of the low-budget Hanuman Ansh.
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Sinha's Statement and Its Context
According to the TOI report, Sinha wrote: “Congratulations Team Mirzapur!!! Well done. The Box Office is telling us all a story if we watch carefully. Mirzapur and Hanuman Ansh are not freak hits. It is easy to draw simplistic conclusions and dangerous too.” The report frames this as commentary rather than a formal statement, noting Sinha's post addressed both films' performance and cautioned against over-interpreting individual box-office outcomes as isolated anomalies. A secondary outlet, Zoom TV Entertainment, independently reported the same underlying point, describing Sinha as urging the industry to look beyond simple explanations for the two films' commercial success.
Two Different Box-Office Stories
The TOI report describes Mirzapur The Movie as having registered a strong opening with further growth reported on Saturday following release, while Hanuman Ansh is characterized as a tiny-budget film showing "remarkable growth after a modest beginning." Separate TOI coverage detailed Hanuman Ansh's trajectory, noting the film opened at roughly Rs 10 lakh on day one and had reached Rs 27.38 crore in India net collections by day 23, before later crossing Rs 40 crore and eventually surpassing Rs 45 crore net and Rs 53 crore gross, per day-wise data reported through September 1. India Today and Business Today similarly documented the film's climb from its modest opening to nearly Rs 50 crore gross within 24 days, attributing the surge to word-of-mouth momentum. Indian Express reported that Mirzapur The Movie's advance bookings had crossed Rs 9.6 crore ahead of release. The available material does not establish Mirzapur The Movie's full box-office total, but confirms it is being treated industry-wide as a major theatrical release running parallel to Hanuman Ansh's sleeper-hit trajectory, the pattern Sinha cited in his remarks.
