'Tanu Weds Manu Returns', 'Hate Story 3', 'Pyaar Ka Punchnama 2' and other small budget films that did well at box office in 2015

In 2015, small budget movies took box office by storm. More than big budget movies starring A-list celebrities, small budget movies have made an impression at the box office this year. The year 2015 proved that audiences like good scripts irrespective of the stars and budget of the film.

Films like "Dum Laga Ke Haisha", "Talvar", "Hunterrr" and "Tanu Weds Manu Returns" among others have not only received critical appreciation, but audiences also enjoyed the movie. These small budget films also turned out to be huge box office hits and top the list of most profitable films.

Here are few small budget films that made it big this year:

Badlapur: Sriram Raghavana's directorial film is Varun Dhawan's first hardcore action drama, and can be called his best movie till date. The film garnered positive reviews and worked well at the box office, earning more than Rs 50 crore income in its lifetime run.

Dum Laga Ke Haisha: This romantic comedy film entertained audience for more than six weeks in India. "Dum Laga Ke Haisha" features Ayushmann Khurana and Bhumi Pednekar in the lead roles. This small budget film started on a slow note at the box office, but picked up pace over the first weekend and continued to run for more than six weeks. "Dum Laga Ke Haisha" earned Rs 30.19 crore in its lifetime run.

Tanu Weds Manu Returns: Kangana Ranaut and R Madhavan starrer "Tanu Weds Manu Returns" earned more than 390 percent with its box office run. The film, which is a sequel to "Tanu Weds Manu", became the first film of 2015 to earn Rs 150 crore and become a blockbuster hit.

Talvar: Irrfan Khan, Neeraj Kabi, Konkana Sen and Sohum Shah starrer "Talvar" worked well because of its storyline. Based on Aarushi Talwar's murder case, the film received a lot of accolades from critics, audience and even at film festivals across the world. Directed by Meghna Gulzar, the film minted Rs 30.17 crore from the domestic box office.

"For a film like Talvar, which deals with a sensitive subject, it wouldn't be ideal to have a conventional or sensationalist approach to it. Moreover for the film to do good business, it was important that we adopted a pragmatic approach to the production, and unique marketing and promotional strategies to widen the reach of the film. Since the film is based on a true incident, the plot of the film was already known to the audiences. However, the real challenge was to draw them to the theatres which was achieved by an unconventional communications and marketing plan," director Gulzar said.

Hunterrr: The coming of age film by debutant director Harshvardhan Kulkarni found a big audience at theatres in India. The small budget film, starring Gulshan Devaiah, Radhika Apte and Marathi actress, Sai Tamankar, earned Rs 13.50 crore.

"The biggest challenge that we faced during Hunterrr was at the very last stage. How do you make Hunterrr a reckoning force amidst other bigger & gigantic films releasing around the same time? The success of Hunterrr is a testimony of us finally finding the right pitch to reach a much wider audience," Spice, a Marketing Communications Agency who was associated with majority of this year's small budget films said in a statement.

Manjhi – The Mountain Man: The Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Radhika Apte starrer is based on a real life story. Critics praised the film, while audience appreciated the performances of the lead cast. The censor copy of the film was leaked before its release, but it did not affect the box office income of Manjhi". In its lifetime run the film minted Rs 12.53 crore.

Pyaar Ka Punchnama 2: The romantic comedy film directed by Luv Ranjan earned more than Rs 64 crore from the domestic box office. The film performed well because of the positive reviews it got from critics and audience. Made on a budget of just 18 crore, "Pyaar Ka Punchnama 2" earned a profit of more than 250 percent. The film features Kartik Aaryan, Omkar Kapoor, Sunny Nijar, Sonnalli Seygall, Ishita Raj Sharma and Nushrat Bharucha in lead roles.

Hate Story 3: The Sharman Joshi, Zarine Khan, Daisy Shah and Karan Singh Grover starrer "Hate Story 3" is the third profitable film of the franchise. The film has continued the success of the franchise with its excellent box office run. Made on a budget of just Rs 13.2 crore, the film went on to collect Rs 51.69 crore.