The recently released pan-India film Kanguva is said to have grossed over ₹100 crore at the box office. Yet, it is quite a fair distance from recovering its cost because of its massive ₹350-crore budget. This makes it one of the most expensive Indian films ever made. And yet, it pales in comparison to the most expensive TV show produced in India, a historical epic that cost the makers ₹500 crore.
India’s most expensive TV show
The 2017-18 historical drama Porus is India’s most expensive TV series. Firstpost reported in 2017 that the show had a whopping budget of ₹500 crore, which was, at the time, higher than any film made in India. Since then, three films have surpassed the figure (Adipurush, RRR, and Kalki 2898 AD). But even then, Porus remains a bigger project than some of the biggest Indian films ever made, including Baahubali 2 ( ₹250 crore), Brahmastra Part One ( ₹350 crore), Jawan ( ₹300 crore), and even the recent release, Singham Again ( ₹350 crore).
What made Porus so expensive
Porus was based on the historical Paurava king of the same name, who famously fought the Greek emperor Alexander in the fourth century BC. The show was mounted on a massive scale, with the producers intending to make it as grand as the Baahubali film series. Massive sets were erected, and top-notch VFX supervisors were hired. For the show’s battle sequences, thousands of extras were hired. Much of the production took place overseas, in Thailand, further ballooning costs. This meant that, on average, each episode of the 299-episode series cost ₹1.70 crore. It easily beat the record of the previous most expensive Indian TV show – Suryaputra Karna – by a long margin. Suryaputra Karna had cost ₹250 crore.
About Porus
Created by Siddharth Kumar Tewary of Swastik Productions, Porus premiered on Sony TV on November 27, 2017 and concluded a year later. The show starred Laksh Lalwani in the titular role, along with Rohit Purohit as Alexander. Other prominent cast members included Rati Pandey, Aditya Redji, Sameksha, Mohit Abrol, and Sunny Ghanshani. Porus received wide acclaim, with Pinkvilla dubbing it the ‘Baahubali of TV’ in its review. The show also won three international awards, including Best Director for Tewary at the Asian Television Awards. A sequel – Chandragupta Maurya – aired from November 2018 to August 2019.
