Many films are released with huge budgets, yet they fail. But today, we’ll talk about one such film. It was a box office flop but won the National Award. The film is Shaheed, directed by Hansal Mehta in 2013, and has a budget of Rs 35 lakh. It was shot in 12 months with borrowed clothes. Rajkumar Rao starred as the lead, depicting the life of lawyer Shahid Mandi.
Tigmanshu Dhulia and KK Menon also appeared in the film. Mehta shared in an interview how they managed to make the film on such a low budget. He said, “We found innovative ways to shoot with a minimal crew. Only 10 people were involved, including Rajkummar Rao. He used to borrow shirts from people on set for authenticity.”
Mehta added, “I offered to buy shirts for Rao, but he insisted on using borrowed ones to match his character’s worn-out look. This dedication helped us stick to the budget.” Despite its box office failure, the film won the National Award for Best Direction and Best Actor.