Hanuman Ansh has emerged as a sleeper hit at the box office. Released on August 7, the film initially had over 350 shows across India. However, by the end of its first week, its show count had dropped to just 25. The situation left director and co-producer Vishal Chaturvedi worried that his passion project had tanked at the box office. He then decided to take matters into his own hands. Today, the film is on its way to crossing the Rs 100 crore mark and is also gearing up for an international release.

Shows came down to 25

Speaking on The Raunac Podcast, Vishal recalled the obstacles he faced while trying to turn the film around. He said, “People drove this film. Theatres with big films scheduled to release chopped our screen count. From 250, our show count came down to 25. Multiplexes like PVR and Cinepolis in prime locations were skeptical about running our shows.”

He added, “Amid all this uncertainty, I came across a post on Instagram, which I usually ignore. These are the posts that people write on their own and present as messages from Maharaj Ji. Deep down, I had a feeling that my film had tanked. However, at a time like this, the post read, ‘Do your work, I will take care of the rest.’ That weirdly motivated me at the end of the first week.”

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When a post changed the fate of Hanuman Ansh

On the Friday before Independence Day, Vishal decided to travel to Surat along with his lead actor Shobinav Satyaa and music composer Rishi Pathak. It was there that the destiny of the film began to change.

“We left for Surat, where they had put just one show. We reached at a time when the show was running. When they saw the public’s reaction to seeing us—hugging us and crying—the owner was left speechless. That guy started calling other theatres, and the number of shows increased. Then we moved to Vadodara and Aligarh, among other places and the shows increased massively,” he recalled.

According to the filmmaker, in Aligarh, the first show was added this week and was sold out within 15 minutes. From there, Vishal and his team visited multiple locations, theatres and temples to promote the film and connect directly with audiences.

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Bollywood refused to help

Hanuman Ansh released alongside Awarapan 2 and Batwara. However, Vishal said that people from Bollywood did not come forward to help when he reached out to them.

He shared, “After the film started to do well, several people called me to congratulate me. I don’t want to name them. One of those who congratulated me was Madhur Bhandarkar, whom I had not asked for any support. However, I am not mentioning the others because I had sought help from those people and they didn’t help me. Hence, I don’t want to name them for now just because they are congratulating me.”

Speaking about the ignorance in Bollywood, Vishal said, “People mostly don’t know what is going to work, but yet they pass on their gyaan to others. The industry is filled with confused people. There are two sets of people—one who genuinely want to make films, and others who don’t have any passion and think filmmaking is something they should try.”

How Hanuman Ansh shadowed Toxic

Almost three weeks after Hanuman Ansh released, Yash’s Toxic: A Fairy Tale for Grown-ups hit theatres. By then, Hanuman Ansh had just started witnessing a significant jump in collections, making Toxic a potential threat to its run. While Toxic opened to a massive response, it has now fallen behind Hanuman Ansh in terms of daily collections.

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Speaking about Toxic’s performance at the box office, Vishal said, “If a film can be made within Rs 2 crore, then you can make it and it can even become successful. There are other sorts of films which do need scale. Yash is a very accomplished actor. When it comes to big films, which are made on a massive budget, it hurts people when they don’t work because they carry losses for many. However, I strongly believe that both kinds of films should be given space. We should make both small- and big-budget films.”

He added that for the success of any film, the emotional connection is very important. “The connection between the scenes is important to keep the audience engaged. It is the maker’s responsibility to do so without hurting anybody’s sentiments. You can separate unnecessary violence from films unless it is absolutely needed.”

Hanuman Ansh director praises Dhurandhar

Speaking about violence in films, Vishal cited Dhurandhar as an example and praised the film.

He said, “In Dhurandhar Part 1, violence was absolutely needed. It was riding with emotion. The film opened with a brother taking revenge for his sister. In my film, if you see, there is not even a single slap. I received a U certificate because of that. So, the thing is, you cannot make a spy film without violence.” While he cited examples, he refused to compare his film with Toxic. “If I had to compare my film to others, I shouldn’t, because every filmmaker approaches a film in their own style.”

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Vishal also advised young directors to perfect their films on paper before taking them into production. He urged filmmakers not to write stories that require a huge star or massive amounts of money unless they have the resources to execute them, as that can become a never-ending cycle.

Box office collection: Hanuman Ansh vs Toxic

Hanuman Ansh, which revolves around the life of Neem Karoli Baba, saw a massive jump in its fourth week and is now nearing the Rs 75 crore mark. The film, according to Vishal, is made on a budget of Rs 2 crore. Meanwhile, Toxic, made on a reported budget of over Rs 500 crore, has earned around Rs 280 crore, with the film collecting Rs 5 crore on its second Wednesday, compared with Rs 7.7 crore earned by Hanuman Ansh.