Exclusive | Film made with Rs 10 in pocket earned Rs 120 cr, but Laalo team would rather live in dharmshala than ask for vanity vans: ‘Papa marenge’ 

Biggest Gujarati hit ever, industry witnessed 189% growth due to Laalo

The success of Laalo hit industry wide. As per the Ormax box office report, driven by the film, which is the highest-grossing Gujarati film of all-time, Gujarati cinema witnessed a staggering 189% growth, and went from Rs 84 crore in 2024 to Rs 242 crore in 2025. It is the first ever Gujarati film to cross Rs 100 crore mark. For context, the second highest earning Gujarati film in 2025, Chaniya Toli, did a business of Rs 22 crore. Laalo added a sizable 47% to Gujarati box office and doubled footfalls to theatres from 9,00,000 in 2024 to 1.8 crore in 2025. Purely in terms of return on investment, it is a bigger hit than this year’s blockbusters such as Kantara Chapter 1, Dhurandhar and Saiyaara given its small budget.

‘We didn’t even have a budget in mind’

Director Ankit Sakhiya revealed that Laalo did not begin as a conventional film project at all. Speaking to SCREEN, he said, “When we started to make the project, we didn’t really have any budget in mind. We just knew we want to make something. However, I am blessed with great friends who offered financial help and they helped me a lot. They are still with me, travelling everywhere.”

As the project progressed, reality slowly began to sink in. He added, “At first, I was like ‘Just give me so much and I will manage’, but this is a film… it is an extensive medium. At first, you might think this that and all is not needed, but as you go ahead, finish the shoot, the expenses increase. When we entered the post-production phase, the songs cost us a lot.”

What started off as a passion project soon transformed into something much bigger. “Earlier, I was under the assumption that the colouring of the film, I will do it myself. That I will also manage the sound. But when we finished shooting the film, the content looked so good, that we thought we will have to bring professionals if we want this to release in theater. So, we had to invest more and the final budget was Rs 1.2 crore. All of this was crowd-funded, my friends paid it all.”

‘I didn’t even have Rs 10 in my pocket’

Despite the growing confidence among his team, Ankit admitted he was battling constant fear. “All of my friends had confident in this, but I was scared and the thought: ‘If this film won’t work, how will I ever repay everyone’. Its very easy to say Rs 1 crore, but it is a huge amount. I didn’t even have Rs 10 in my pocket at that time and yet the film was made. This was all God’s will.”

ALSO READ | Dhurandhar Box Office Collection Day 42: All BO records broken by Ranveer Singh film; storms past KGF 2 to become 3rd highest earner ever

Why do budgets explode after success?

Addressing why filmmakers often move from modest budgets to massive productions after one success, Ankit offered a grounded perspective. “It’s all about what your script’s demands. If today, I will want to make a film like Baahubali, I won’t be able to achieve that in a budget of Rs 1 crore. If today, there are reports that Ramayana is being made on a budget of Rs 1,000 crore, it is because the film demands that kind of money.”

He further added, “It will be wrong to compare that if a film of Rs 1 crore can earn Rs 120 crore, what’s making others spend Rs 1000 crore. The budget is fixed upon the demand of the film. The story demands it.”

Simplifying the logic behind budgeting, Ankit said, “Moving forward, we won’t be able to decided randomly that we made a film on a budget of Rs 1 crore, now let’s try and make it in Rs 80 lakh. That can’t be the right approach. The only approach for budget should be what does your script demand. It all depends on whether your story demands VFX, do we need VFX or can it be done without it. Is it worth adding that money, a lot of Math is involved in this process.”

‘I will never demand multiple vanity vans’

When the conversation shifted to rising star demands and entourage costs, lead actor Karan Joshi was quick to draw a line. “I don’t think I will ever make such demands. I, honestly, haven’t reached at that level. I will most importantly focus on acting, because that is what brought me here. So if I will lose my craft in greed of vanity, then that will end it all.”

Ankit echoed this sentiment while highlighting the cultural difference between regional industries and Bollywood. “What I want to add to this topic is that we have never heard of such things in our industry. Whatever is happening in Bollywood, we have only heard that news. We don’t know how much truth all these holds. We have never been to that floor to understand what’s happening at their level.”

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by MANIFEST FILMS (@manifestfilms.official)

‘Sabse pehle toh papa maarenge’

Explaining their grounded upbringing, Ankit said, “From where we have come, if at all ever we will make random demands for vanity, sabse pehle toh papa maarenge (the first one to pull our ears will be our fathers). It’s not like we haven’t ever seen money in life. We come from Gujarat, people have money there but the culture isn’t such. We always think what can we change at human level.”

He added, “Respecting people around us is utmost priority for us. More than money. Our culture teaches us ethics and values. After reaching this point, people have been asking us, ‘Why are you so down-to-earth?’ To be honest, I didn’t know being humble meant being down-to-earth. I was like: ‘Acha, isko down-to-earth bolte hai’.”

Sharing a personal anecdote, Ankit revealed, “All my friends are filthy rich, but today they have come with me like my spot boy… holding my bag for me and travelling with me for all the interviews.”

Watch full interview here:

‘Can I recover that cost for my producer?’

Karan Joshi summed up what he believes every actor should ask before making big demands. “My biggest point is, if someone is spending to get me a vanity van, do I have the potential to bring back that money for my producer? Can I cover that cost for the makers?”

Ankit clarified that they are not completely against vanity vans either. “We are not against the vanity culture. There are multiple situations when you cannot do without vanity. For example, if the shoot is in some remote location or if there are ladies in the crew who would need washrooms. Then, obviously, we will need vanity van. But, not just for the sake of it. Picnic nahi kar rahe hai hum log.”

Actor Shruhad Goswami, who played God in the film, added humor to the conversation. “Aisa nahi ki ‘We need vanity. That we can’t do without it.'”

He further explained, “Maybe in future, we will understand why people demand for vanity vans. Maybe they need their personal space. It is mostly to escape the crowd, because you are there for work and you need to be in your character and prepare for it. A lot of emotions go into it. I am just assuming this must be the case, we have never got any vanity so we don’t really know its actual use.”

Karan added, “If we will work on a film where one can provide us vanity, then okay. If not, the content is great but we will have to live in a tiny room with no vanity then we will adjust there.”

Eight people, one room, two beds

Perhaps the most powerful reality check came when Shruhad described their living conditions during the shoot. “For Laalo, we all lived in a dharamshala (public resthouse). The room was extremely tiny. We had just one small room, which had one washroom. Eight of us shared that one room. That room had just two beds. Rest everyone slept on the floor. Karan and I put a mattress in a corner and we slept there. The entire shoot went like that. So vanity wasn’t mandatory for us.”

Karan joked about how things have changed post success. “We went through that phase and now I got a personal room to stay,” he laughed, adding, “Now, they offer us.”

Ankit concluded with a firm principle. “But, if that will increase someone’s production cost and the film will suffer then we can adjust in a small room too.”

Sharing another recent example, he said, “The most recent example is of Reeva Rachh. She was a girl, plus three films old. She has done some great films so we thought we will provide her a hotel room. But she refused to take it. She stayed with us in the dharamshala.”

Reeva Rachh plays Laalo’s wife in the film.