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    EYE ON BOLLYWOOD                                                  SEPTEMBER 11, 2026       |  The Indian Eye 44

                                     Hanuman Ansh:

                 How a niche film turned

                                    into a sleeper hit

             The movie about the life and teachings of Neeb Karori Baba has defied box-office

                                expectations to emerge as one of 2026’s surprise successes

            OUR BUREAU                                                                                            ing it inaccessible to audiences unfa-
                                                                                                                  miliar with Neeb Karori Baba.
            Mumbai
                                                                                                                      Chaturvedi was conscious of that
                n an industry where big stars, ex-                                                                challenge from the beginning. He de-
                pensive productions and aggres-                                                                   liberately avoided making the film a
            Isive  marketing  often  determine                                                                    conventional biopic or even directly
            a film’s opening, Hanuman Ansh has                                                                    using the saint’s name in the title. “I
            taken a very different route to success.                                                              was very conscious about not using
            A low-budget film centred on the life                                                                 his name directly,” he said, explaining
            and teachings of spiritual figure Neeb                                                                that  Hanuman  Ansh  was  intended
            Karori Baba, it was never positioned                                                                  as “a conceptual name” inspired by
            as a conventional commercial enter-                                                                   the belief among devotees that Baba
            tainer. Yet weeks after its theatrical                                                                was  an  “Anshik  Hanuman”  or  par-
            release, the film has developed into a                                                                tial incarnation of Lord Hanuman.
            sleeper hit, sustaining audience inter-                                                                   More importantly, the director
            est despite competition from much                                                                     wanted  the  film  to  move  beyond  a
            larger releases.                                                                                      narrowly religious audience. “I didn’t
                The  film’s  unexpected  journey                                                                  want to make a film only for those
            is partly a story about the changing                                                                  who already believe in Baba,” he said.
            nature of the Indian audience. What                                                                   “Today’s youth  is  already  connect-
            appeared to be a niche spiritual film                                                                 ed with spirituality. Most of Neeb
            has found resonance among viewers                                                                     Karori Baba’s devotees are Gen Z.”
            beyond the traditional devotee base,                                                                      The core message — “love all,
            particularly younger audiences. Film                                                                  serve all, feed all and remember Ram”
            trade analyst Taran Adarsh has gone                                                                   — gives the film an emotional frame-
            as far as calling it “the biggest success                                                             work  that  extends  beyond  questions
            story of 2026.”                                                                                       of belief. Its depiction of a saint un-
                For director Vishal Chaturvedi,   Hombale Films will distribute Hanuman Ansh in overseas markets from September 11 (File photo)  touched by “power, politics, owner-
            however, the film’s eventual success                                                                  ship and praise” allows the story to
            was not entirely unexpected. He had   from word of mouth and sustained   shows were sold out, a crisis situation   function as much as a narrative about
            always believed that its emotional   interest. Its audience did not simply   was created.”            human values as one about spirituality.
            and spiritual themes could connect   arrive in large numbers at the begin-  The  filmmakers  responded  by   The international release could
            with audiences, even though the ini-  ning; it continued to build as more   treating  distribution  almost  as  a   now take that appeal further. Hom-
            tial response from parts of the trade   people discovered the film.  grassroots campaign. Instead of re-  bale Films will distribute Hanuman
            was far less encouraging. “I used to   The  film  also  faced  a  problem   lying solely on conventional promo-  Ansh in overseas markets from Sep-
            feel that the film will be a hit and it   that  would  normally  be  associated   tion, the production team travelled   tember 11. The decision reflects the
            will complete its run in two and a   with a successful movie rather than   across  theatres  to  track  the  film’s   growing international recognition of
            half months,” Chaturvedi said. His   a  struggling  one:  lack  of  screens.  performance and  push for more   Neeb Karori Baba, whose legacy has
            confidence  was  reinforced  by  what   The  arrival  of  bigger  films  such  as   shows. “We started covering each   attracted figures such as Steve Jobs,
            happened in the second week. “We   Emraan Hashmi-starrer Awarapan   and every theatre,” Chaturvedi said,  Mark Zuckerberg and Julia Roberts.
            had 25 theatres, but we were getting   2 and Yash’s Toxic put pressure on   describing a journey through Gujarat   The overseas release may there-
            almost the same collection that we   exhibitors to accommodate commer-  and Rajasthan that included Surat,  fore become the next chapter in an
            were getting from 250 theatres in the   cially stronger releases. “The the-  Baroda, Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Morbi,  unlikely  box-office  story.  Hanuman
            first week,” he added.            atre owners had two other big films.  Jodhpur, Jaipur and Udaipur.  Ansh began as a modest film about
                That contrast captures the film’s   They were putting up their shows,”   That determination mattered be-  a spiritual figure with a devoted but
            unusual  trajectory.  Unlike  main-  Chaturvedi said. “Because they were   cause Hanuman Ansh was attempt-  specialised following. Its theatrical
            stream releases that depend heavily   getting pushed from there, and they   ing something commercially difficult:   performance  suggests  that  its  audi-
            on a large opening weekend, Hanu-  were taking out our film. They didn’t   turning a deeply spiritual subject into   ence was considerably larger than the
            man Ansh appears to have benefited   have any other way, but when all the   a theatrical experience without mak-  filmmakers or trade initially assumed.

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