From the 2024 Malayalam survival drama Manjummel Boys to the 2022 Kannada action drama Kantara, there have been many small budget regional films that have created records at the box office. Another addition to the list is the 2016 Marathi romantic drama Sairat, which is among the most profitable films ever made in India.
Directed by Nagraj Manjule, Sairat starred Rinku Rajguru and Akash Thosar in their debuts as Archana 'Archi' Patil and Prashant 'Parshya' Kale. Archi and Parshya are two star-crossed lovers coming from different castes. Archi's family is against their daughter spending time with her low-caste boyfriend Parshya. The two of them run away to a different city, marry each other, and give birth to a son named Aakash. However, after a few years, Archi's younger brother Prince find them and kills them both and Aakash finds their dead bodies in a shocking climax.
When Sairat was released, its performances, narration, direction, music and emotional storyline won over the hearts of the audiences and critics. The song Zingaat, composed, sung, and written by Ajay-Atul, became a rage across the nation. The film went on to become a blockbuster with the worldwide gross earnings of Rs 110 crore and still remains the highest-grossing Marathi movie of all time.
Rinku Rajguru won the Special Mention award at the National Film Awards for her performance and Sairat won 11 awards at the 2017 Filmfare Marathi Awards. The Nagraj Manjule directorial was even remade in Kannada, Punjabi, Odia, Bengali, and most famoulsy in Hindi as Dhadak, which marked the acting debut of Janhvi Kapoor and starred Ishaan Khatter.
READ | This film bombed at box office, producer lost crores, director quit filmmaking, now listed in greatest films ever made
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