Yesterday, we ticked off one more item from our bucket list! We finally saw the Hindi movie, “Hanuman Ansh” at the PVR Multiplex at Bengaluru’s Orion Mall. I say finally because this movie has created a major buzz in India since it was released on August 7, 2026. The popularity of this movie, directed and produced ( with others) by Vishal Chaturvedi, has since spread far and wide at a bewildering speed! In today’s language, “Hanuman Ansh” has truly gone viral!
The movie is based on the life of a religious leader of Sanatan Dharma called Neeb Karori Baba or more respectfully as Maharaj-ji. He lived from about 1900 to 1973. He was a major devotee of Shri Hanuman. You will know that Shri Hanuman ( known more popularly as Shri Anjaneya or Sri Hanumantha in South India) is one of the most popular of the many Gods in Santa Dharma. More recently, even before the release of this movie, I read that the famous cricketer Virat Kohli and his film star wife Anusha Sharma were devotees of Neeb Karori Baba. Interestingly, his early followers included Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg.
I can think of very few parallels where movies based on Santan Dharma have had such an impact. I recall that way back in 1975, there was a movie called, ” Jai Santoshi Maa” which became a big hit despite its unconventional subject. It was a mythological film about a Goddess from the Hindu pantheon. In those days, television was still not available in India. Much later, in 1987, Ramanand Sagar’s “Ramayana” took India by storm. This television serial was such Tsuccessa big draw that when it was broadcast much of the country which had access to a television virtually came to a halt!
Now decades late, “Hanuman Ansh” has created waves. It is said to have been produced on a shoe string budget of Rs 2 crores. ( Rs 1 crore is about $104K) . The initial response was not particularly strong. It made just Rs 90 lakhs in the first week. Later, it took off and with strong word of mouth publicity it has attained heights which the producers – or anyone else for that matter- would have dreamt of. As I write, the collections is stated to have passed Rs 400 crores. In the process, it has outstripped even best selling mainstream Hindi movies, like “Dhurandhar 2”. No other movie has come anywhere close to “Hanuman Ansh”.
What I found striking about the movie was its simplicity. It had a universal appeal which took you back to your roots, so to speak. The story was told simply and reinforced the value of having deep faith. The fact that it had sub-titles in English did help.
