Made in Rs 4 crore, this film earned Rs 50 crore, ran for 100 days in theatres, became highest-grossing movie in…

The 2016 Kannada film Kirik Party was directed by Rishab Shetty and headlined by Rakshit Shetty. Rashmika Mandanna made her acting debut with this romantic comedy film, that grossed Rs 50 crore against its budget of Rs 4 crore.

From the 2022 Tamil launguage romantic comedy Love Today to the 2024 Malayalam language survival thriller Manjummel Boys, there have been many low-budget regional films in Indian cinema that have smashed the box office. Another addition to this list is the 2016 Kannada language romantic comedy Kirik Party.

Directed by Rishab Shetty of Kantara fame, Kirik Party starred Rakshit Shetty, Rashmika Mandanna, Samyuktha Hegde, and Achyuth Kumar in the lead roles. It marked the acting debut of the two female leads, Rashmika and Samyuktha. The film received extremely positive reviews from critics and audiences upon its release in December 2016.

Made in just Rs 4 crore, Kirik Party went on earn Rs 50 crore gross worldwide and became the highest-grossing Kannada film in 2016. It even ran for more than 100 days in theatres. Rakshit, who also produced the film under his banner Paramvah Studios, distributed 25 per cent of the profits with the entire cast and crew.

Speaking with The New Indian Express, the 777 Charlie actor said, ‘I worked with a very small budget for Kirik Party. Every lightman worked for longer hours without asking for extra pay, which is usually not the case. So when we met with success, I thought it was the right thing to do, to share the profits with them all. I decided to keep 75 per cent of profit with Paramvah Studios and distribute the remaining.’

Kirik Party was remade in Telugu as Kirrak Party, which was directed by Sharan Koppisetty. Karthikeya-fame Nikhil Siddhartha, Simran Pareenja, and Rakendu Mouli played the leading roles, while Samkyuktha Hegde reprised her role from the Kannada film.