# Munjya (मुंज्या) (film)
**Munjya** (मुंज्या) is a 2024 Hindi-language horror comedy film directed by Aditya Sarpotdar, produced by Dinesh Vijan and Amar Kaushik for Maddock Films, and released in Indian theaters on 7 June 2024.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/munjya) Its story is drawn from Konkan coast folklore about a vengeful spirit of the same name, and its title character is a computer-generated figure rather than a performed role.[6](https://www.amarujala.com/entertainment/bollywood/munjya-censor-film-passed-by-cbfc-with-ua-certificate-know-runtime-and-cut-full-details-inside-2024-06-05) Made on a reported budget of ₹300 million (₹30 crore), the film became a sleeper hit, earning ₹1.075 billion (₹107.48 crore) net in India and crossing ₹1 billion (₹100 crore) worldwide.[5](https://www.indiatodayhindi.com/magazine/cover-story/story/20240925-how-these-horror-comedy-of-bollywood-making-the-audience-and-box-office-laugh-1093752-2024-09-24) • [4](https://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movie/munjya/box-office/) • [13](https://topnewsjk.in/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Top-News-July-11-2024.pdf)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | 7 June 2024, theatrical (India); CBFC U/A certificate completed 4 June 2024[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/munjya) • [6](https://www.amarujala.com/entertainment/bollywood/munjya-censor-film-passed-by-cbfc-with-ua-certificate-know-runtime-and-cut-full-details-inside-2024-06-05) |
| Director / writers | Aditya Sarpotdar; written by Niren Bhatt and Yogesh Chandekar, with Tushar Ajgaonkar as associate writer[3](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt27995594/fullcredits/) |
| Production | Maddock Films; producers Dinesh Vijan and Amar Kaushik; Hindi language[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/munjya) |
| Runtime | 2h 20m per Rotten Tomatoes; 121 minutes per the Australian Classification Board[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/munjya) • [2](https://www.classification.gov.au/titles/munjya) |
| Budget / box office | ₹300 million (₹30 crore) budget; ₹42.1 million (₹4.21 crore) opening day, ₹1.075 billion (₹107.48 crore) total net in India[5](https://www.indiatodayhindi.com/magazine/cover-story/story/20240925-how-these-horror-comedy-of-bollywood-making-the-audience-and-box-office-laugh-1093752-2024-09-24) • [4](https://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movie/munjya/box-office/) |
| Critical scores | 56% Tomatometer from 9 reviews and 60% Popcornmeter from 50+ ratings on Rotten Tomatoes[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/munjya) |
| Music | Sachin–Jigar (score and songs), lyrics by Amitabh Bhattacharya[14](https://multipledarknews.com/munjya-%E0%A4%AE%E0%A5%81%E0%A4%82%E0%A4%9C%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%AF%E0%A4%BE-%E0%A4%AB%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%B2%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%AE-%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%B2%E0%A5%80%E0%A4%9C%E0%A4%BC-%E0%A4%95%E0%A4%B0/) |
## Spoilers
### Premise and folklore source
The film follows a young man whose visit to his native village uncovers a family secret and a vengeful spirit, the Munjya, who wants to get married; the young man must fight to protect himself and his love from the spirit's clutches.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/munjya) In the story, the childlike demon Munjya torments Bittu ([Abhay Verma](https://www.edgepedia.org/abhay-verma), in his first leading role) and demands to be united with Bela (Sharvari), Bittu's childhood love; the film is set against a Pune and Konkan backdrop and also touches on a woman's right to choose her own partner.[5](https://www.indiatodayhindi.com/magazine/cover-story/story/20240925-how-these-horror-comedy-of-bollywood-making-the-audience-and-box-office-laugh-1093752-2024-09-24)
The title character comes from Maharashtrian folklore of the Konkan coast. In the legend, a boy of five to seven years undergoes mundan (head shaving) and is given the janeu (sacred thread); if the boy dies within ten days, he becomes a brahm rakshas who wanders in pursuit of his unfulfilled wish, and is also called Munja.[7](https://www.jagran.com/entertainment/bollywood-munjya-movie-origin-of-story-and-meaning-of-title-know-details-here-23742864.html) In the film's version, the Munjya of village Chetukwadi was a boy in love with a girl named Munni who died before he could marry her.[8](https://hindi.filmibeat.com/movies/munjya.html) The makers expanded and dramatized the folktale considerably for the screen.[7](https://www.jagran.com/entertainment/bollywood-munjya-movie-origin-of-story-and-meaning-of-title-know-details-here-23742864.html)
## Cast and production
Sharvari (credited as Sharvari Wagh) plays Bela and Abhay Verma plays Bittu, with [Mona Singh](https://www.edgepedia.org/mona-singh) as Pammi, Sathyaraj as Elvis Karim Prabhakar, Suhas Joshi as Aaji (Geeta), Bhagyashree Limaye as Rukku, and [Ajay Purkar](https://www.edgepedia.org/ajay-purkar) as Balu Kaka.[3](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt27995594/fullcredits/) The film has no major star in its cast, a point its director highlighted after its success, saying the film's achievement belonged entirely to the movie itself rather than to any single actor.[12](https://maharashtratimes.com/entertainment/interview/munjya-director-aditya-sarpotdar-talks-about-casting-for-film-as-per-role-and-age-and-movie-success/amp_articleshow/111328682.cms) Sarpotdar said [Alia Bhatt](https://www.edgepedia.org/alia-bhatt) and Shraddha Kapoor were initially considered for the film before the makers went with a lesser-known ensemble.[16](https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/bollywood/munjya-director-aditya-sarpotdar-on-why-alia-bhatt-shraddha-kapoor-were-first-considered-for-the-supernatural-thriller-9429575/)
**The CGI title character.** The Munjya itself is a computer-generated imagery (CGI) character, and the film is regarded as [Hindi cinema](https://www.edgepedia.org/hindi-cinema)'s first venture led by a CGI character.[6](https://www.amarujala.com/entertainment/bollywood/munjya-censor-film-passed-by-cbfc-with-ua-certificate-know-runtime-and-cut-full-details-inside-2024-06-05) The Maharashtra Times review credited Sarpotdar with building the CGI figure with enough detail that it feels like a living presence on screen.[9](https://maharashtratimes.com/entertainment/movie-reviews/munjya/moviereview/110823383.cms) VFX supervision was by Brad Minnich and Debabrata Maity, with Devendra Keni as VFX producer.[10](https://www.redefine.co/shows/munjya) Saurabh Goswami was director of photography and Monisha R Baldawa the editor.[3](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt27995594/fullcredits/)
Sarpotdar is a fourth-generation filmmaker from a Pune family of distributors and producers; [Munjya](https://www.edgepedia.org/munjya) was his first Hindi theatrical film, after [Marathi cinema](https://www.edgepedia.org/marathi-cinema) work including Zombivli.[12](https://maharashtratimes.com/entertainment/interview/munjya-director-aditya-sarpotdar-talks-about-casting-for-film-as-per-role-and-age-and-movie-success/amp_articleshow/111328682.cms) • [15](https://www.filmfare.com/interviews/exclusive-aditya-sarpotdar-on-munjya-marathi-cinema-and-more-67916.amp)
## Release and box office
The [Central Board of Film Certification](https://www.edgepedia.org/central-board-of-film-certification) passed the film with a U/A certificate on 4 June 2024, and it opened in theaters on 7 June 2024.[6](https://www.amarujala.com/entertainment/bollywood/munjya-censor-film-passed-by-cbfc-with-ua-certificate-know-runtime-and-cut-full-details-inside-2024-06-05) In Australia it was classified M for supernatural themes, with mild impact ratings for violence and drug use and no nudity or sex.[2](https://www.classification.gov.au/titles/munjya)
**Box office run.** The film opened to ₹42.1 million (₹4.21 crore) on day one in India and grew steadily on word of mouth, reaching ₹365 million (₹36.50 crore) by the end of week one, ₹956.3 million (₹95.63 crore) by the end of week three, and a final total of ₹1.075 billion (₹107.48 crore) net.[4](https://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movie/munjya/box-office/) Trade reporting placed its budget at ₹300 million (₹30 crore), making it one of the medium-budget hits of 2024, and it crossed ₹1 billion (₹100 crore) in worldwide gross while still running in cinemas in late June 2024.[5](https://www.indiatodayhindi.com/magazine/cover-story/story/20240925-how-these-horror-comedy-of-bollywood-making-the-audience-and-box-office-laugh-1093752-2024-09-24) • [13](https://topnewsjk.in/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Top-News-July-11-2024.pdf) An MPA–Deloitte economic report on the Indian screen industry cited Munjya, alongside Hanu-Man and [Manjummel Boys](https://www.edgepedia.org/manjummel-boys), as a 2024 box-office success that defied convention.[11](https://www.mib.gov.in/sites/default/files/2025-06/mpa_deloitte_ecr_in_final_webversion27.4.25_1.pdf) After theaters, the film had its worldwide television premiere on Star Gold on 24 August 2024.[14](https://multipledarknews.com/munjya-%E0%A4%AE%E0%A5%81%E0%A4%82%E0%A4%9C%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%AF%E0%A4%BE-%E0%A4%AB%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%B2%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%AE-%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%B2%E0%A5%80%E0%A4%9C%E0%A4%BC-%E0%A4%95%E0%A4%B0/)
## Reception
Critical response was mixed. On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a 56% Tomatometer from 9 reviews and a 60% Popcornmeter audience score.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/munjya) Anupama Chopra of Film Companion called it "a worthy addition to the Stree universe", while Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express gave it 2/5, writing that the horror-comedy is "neither scary nor funny"; Firstpost and Filmfare each gave 3.5/5, and Nandini Ramnath of Scroll.in described the 123-minute film as wispy as a ghost story told to pass the time.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/munjya) The NDTV review noted that although the film lacks well-known faces, it succeeds in places at drawing laughs from its folklore-based story.[17](https://ndtv.in/videos/munjya-movie-review-munjya-a-new-ghost-in-horror-comedy-movie-watch-the-review-of-the-movie-800955)
The film's commercial performance drew more attention than its reviews. Commentators noted that 2024's horror films proved that big-budget, star-filled action dramas were not the only films that filled theaters, and that Munjya raised the profiles of its leads Abhay Verma and Sharvari.[5](https://www.indiatodayhindi.com/magazine/cover-story/story/20240925-how-these-horror-comedy-of-bollywood-making-the-audience-and-box-office-laugh-1093752-2024-09-24) At award ceremonies, IMDb records 8 wins and 16 nominations overall for the film, including a Filmfare Technical Award win in 2025.[18](https://www.imdb.com/hi/title/tt27995594/) • [19](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt27995594/awards/)
## Place in the Maddock horror-comedy universe
Munjya belongs to Maddock Films' supernatural horror-comedy slate, following Stree (2018), Roohi, and [Bhediya](https://www.edgepedia.org/bhediya) (2022), and is set in the same universe as the Stree films.[6](https://www.amarujala.com/entertainment/bollywood/munjya-censor-film-passed-by-cbfc-with-ua-certificate-know-runtime-and-cut-full-details-inside-2024-06-05) • [17](https://ndtv.in/videos/munjya-movie-review-munjya-a-new-ghost-in-horror-comedy-movie-watch-the-review-of-the-movie-800955) Its success made Maddock the center of the horror-comedy trend in Hindi cinema, with the studio receiving an abundance of scripts and concepts in the genre; director Sarpotdar himself asked publicly how long the genre would keep pulling audiences to theaters, noting that too much horror comedy would bore people.[5](https://www.indiatodayhindi.com/magazine/cover-story/story/20240925-how-these-horror-comedy-of-bollywood-making-the-audience-and-box-office-laugh-1093752-2024-09-24)
## References
1. [Munjya, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/munjya)
2. [Munjya, Australian Classification](https://www.classification.gov.au/titles/munjya)
3. [Munjya (2024) Full cast & crew, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt27995594/fullcredits/)
4. [Munjya Box Office Collection, Bollywood Hungama](https://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movie/munjya/box-office/)
5. [How these horror comedies of Bollywood are making the audience and box office laugh, India Today Hindi](https://www.indiatodayhindi.com/magazine/cover-story/story/20240925-how-these-horror-comedy-of-bollywood-making-the-audience-and-box-office-laugh-1093752-2024-09-24)
6. [Munjya Censor: film passed by CBFC with U/A certificate, Amar Ujala](https://www.amarujala.com/entertainment/bollywood/munjya-censor-film-passed-by-cbfc-with-ua-certificate-know-runtime-and-cut-full-details-inside-2024-06-05)
7. [Munjya: origin of the story and meaning of the title, Dainik Jagran](https://www.jagran.com/entertainment/bollywood-munjya-movie-origin-of-story-and-meaning-of-title-know-details-here-23742864.html)
8. [Munjya (2024): cast, crew, story, FilmiBeat Hindi](https://hindi.filmibeat.com/movies/munjya.html)
9. [Munjya Movie Review, Maharashtra Times](https://maharashtratimes.com/entertainment/movie-reviews/munjya/moviereview/110823383.cms)
10. [Munjya, Redefine](https://www.redefine.co/shows/munjya)
11. [Economic impact of the film, television and OCC industry in India, 2024, MPA/Deloitte via Ministry of Information & Broadcasting](https://www.mib.gov.in/sites/default/files/2025-06/mpa_deloitte_ecr_in_final_webversion27.4.25_1.pdf)
12. [Munjya director Aditya Sarpotdar on casting and the film's success, Maharashtra Times](https://maharashtratimes.com/entertainment/interview/munjya-director-aditya-sarpotdar-talks-about-casting-for-film-as-per-role-and-age-and-movie-success/amp_articleshow/111328682.cms)
13. [Top News, Jammu, 11 July 2024 (e-paper)](https://topnewsjk.in/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Top-News-July-11-2024.pdf)
14. [Munjya film TV premiere details, Multiple Dark News](https://multipledarknews.com/munjya-%E0%A4%AE%E0%A5%81%E0%A4%82%E0%A4%9C%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%AF%E0%A4%BE-%E0%A4%AB%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%B2%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%AE-%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%B2%E0%A5%80%E0%A4%9C%E0%A4%BC-%E0%A4%95%E0%A4%B0/)
15. [Aditya Sarpotdar on Munjya and Marathi cinema, Filmfare](https://www.filmfare.com/interviews/exclusive-aditya-sarpotdar-on-munjya-marathi-cinema-and-more-67916.amp)
16. [Munjya director on why Alia Bhatt, Shraddha Kapoor were first considered, The Indian Express](https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/bollywood/munjya-director-aditya-sarpotdar-on-why-alia-bhatt-shraddha-kapoor-were-first-considered-for-the-supernatural-thriller-9429575/)
17. [Munjya Movie Review: a new ghost in horror comedy, NDTV](https://ndtv.in/videos/munjya-movie-review-munjya-a-new-ghost-in-horror-comedy-movie-watch-the-review-of-the-movie-800955)
18. [Munjya (2024), IMDb (Hindi)](https://www.imdb.com/hi/title/tt27995594/)
19. [Munjya (2024) Awards, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt27995594/awards/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Indian films (individual works) › Hindi films of the 2020s › Hindi films of 2024*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 18, 2026; Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 18, 2026; Oct 3, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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