Hanuman Ansh, the devotional drama based on the life and philosophy of spiritual guru Neem Karoli Baba, is emerging as one of the surprise successes at the box office. The film, which had a modest start in theatres, has now crossed the Rs 100 crore mark. Amid its success, writer-director Vishal Chaturvedi has revealed that the 1975 classic Jai Santoshi Maa played a key role in inspiring him to make the film. He also shared that he waived off his fees for the movie.

During a conversation on The Raunac Podcast, Vishal said that he had been studying Vijay Sharma’s Jai Santoshi Maa for the past one-and-a-half years because he felt there was a gap in the market for spiritual and devotional films.

He said, “Jai Santoshi Maa is one of the most successful films in the history of Indian cinema and not many people know about it. And, I have been mugging up that film since the past one and a half years, because there’s a vacuum of this category of films. It was a spiritual film, released with Sholay, but earned 100 times more than its budget. It’s not just an all-time blockbuster but it was the most profitable film in Indian cinema history. But, why the genre was killed and no film was made on the same lines again, this question kept coming up in my mind.”

Vishal waived his fee for Hanuman Ansh

Vishal, who also produced Hanuman Ansh, revealed that he did not charge a fee for directing the film.

“I am also the film’s producer and director, I waived off my fees for the film,” he shared.

The filmmaker also spoke about the atmosphere he maintained on the sets while making the devotional drama.

“The set was vegetarian, and we used to do the Hanuman chalisa path everyday. In fact, I was on a fruit diet for around 4.5 months before the film’s release,” he shared.

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When Hanuman Ansh director approached OTT platforms

During a conversation with India TV, Vishal Chaturvedi revealed that during the initial stage of packaging the film, he had approached various OTT platforms.

“I had gone to pitch my story on an OTT platform, and there they told me that I have an Indian story with international relevance. I narrated Maharaj Ji’s story in such a way that I literally broke down,” he said.

The director further added, “Mujhe laga jis tarah unhone reject kiya, jis bhaasha ka prayog kiya, woh thodi derogatory thi (The way they rejected, the language they used to reject me was derogatory). way they said it, I felt that the narrative in their mind, the way they rejected it, there is a hole in their mind through the narrative. Now it is necessary to bust that narrative. We are filmmakers, we have been rejected a thousand times. You narrate a story and if you don’t understand it, you say that it is good, but we will do it later.”

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About Hanuman Ansh

Hanuman Ansh released in theatres on August 7 and had a slow start, collecting around Rs 10 lakh on its opening day. However, the film gained momentum during its third week as audiences began responding positively to its devotional theme and word-of-mouth.

Based on the life and philosophy of Neem Karoli Baba, Hanuman Ansh is written, directed and produced by Dr Vishal Chaturvedi. Shobhinaw Satyaa plays the lead role in the film.