The Big Modest Budget of Haq — Where the Money Went

New Delhi, Wednesday, 12 November 2025: The new Hindi courtroom drama Haq has brought a very important social story to the screen. The film, which stars Yami Gautam and Emraan Hashmi, is inspired by the real-life and famous Shah Bano case from the 1980s. While the movie has won great reviews from critics, its journey at the box office has been slow.

This slow start makes us look closely at the film’s budget. Haq was made on what trade analysts call a “modest” or mid-range budget for a Bollywood film with two known stars. Understanding where this money went helps explain why the film needs a good run in theatres to be successful.

What Was the Haq Budget?

The producers of Haq have not officially told the public the exact budget. However, industry sources and trade analysts say the movie cost somewhere between ₹40 crore and ₹50 crore.

For a big-star, action-filled movie, this might be small. But for a courtroom drama that focuses on dialogue and acting, this budget is still significant. This money is usually divided into two main parts: the Cost of Production (COP) and the Print and Advertising (P&A) costs.

Where Did the Money Go? (Cost of Production)

The major part of the budget, the Cost of Production, is where most of the ₹40-50 crore goes.

Star Cast Fees: The biggest expense is usually the money paid to the main actors. Haq stars Yami Gautam as the main lead, Shazia Bano. Emraan Hashmi plays the key role of the husband and lawyer. Paying these two popular actors takes up a large slice of the budget.
Supporting Cast and Crew: The movie features a strong group of supporting actors like Sheeba Chaddha and Danish Husain. The budget covers their fees. It also pays for the director, Suparn Verma, and the many people working behind the camera—cinematographers, editors, and technical crew.
Filming and Set Costs: Haq is mainly a courtroom drama. It does not have huge song-and-dance sequences or massive action scenes. But it still needs realistic sets. Money was spent on creating believable courtroom interiors and setting up locations that show the 1980s time period of the story. Location fees, equipment rentals, and travel for the crew also fall under this.

The Marketing and Distribution Costs

The second important part of the budget is Print and Advertising (P&A). This is the money spent to make sure people know about the movie and go to the theatre.

Advertising: This includes money for TV ads, newspaper promotions, and campaigns on social media platforms. Since Haq is a serious film, the advertising had to be effective to draw crowds.
Print and Release: This covers the cost of preparing the film’s copies (prints) for all the movie halls across India and abroad. It also includes the money paid to distributors to get the film shown on screens everywhere.

Why the Budget Matters

The estimated budget of around ₹45 crore means that Haq needs to earn a good amount of money at the box office to break even. Trade experts believe the film needs to collect over ₹25 crore from Indian ticket sales alone to be called a safe venture. To be a certified “Hit,” it needs to earn a worldwide collection of over ₹50 crore.

As the movie has received great reviews for its powerful story and Yami Gautam’s acting, the hope is that positive word-of-mouth will help it grow its collections over the coming weeks and make the movie a financial success.