New Delhi: Director Vishal Chaturvedi has confirmed Hanuman Ansh 2 following the success of the Neem Karoli Baba biopic. The sequel will focus on key moments from the spiritual guru’s life.
According to a report, Chaturvedi announced Hanuman Ansh 2 while interacting with audiences at a multiplex in Agra. He said the upcoming instalment will focus on Neem Karoli Baba’s birthplace, Firozabad, and explore how and why he moved to Agra, Mathura and other places during his spiritual journey. More details about the sequel are awaited.
Neem Karoli Baba was a Hindu spiritual teacher and a devoted follower of Lord Hanuman. His birth name is generally given as Lakshman Narayan Sharma, and he was born around 1900 in Akbarpur village in present-day Uttar Pradesh. He died on 11 September 1973 in Vrindavan.
Many stories about the saint are linked to accounts of miracles and extraordinary incidents passed down by his devotees. As these accounts are largely based on devotees’ recollections, they are understood as part of the spiritual tradition surrounding him rather than independently verified historical fact.
Director Madhur Bhandarkar recently praised the box-office success of Hanuman Ansh, calling the low-budget film with a non-star cast a “crucial case study” for the Indian film industry.
Actor-politician Kangana Ranaut also praised Hanuman Ansh, calling the film “not a movie” but a “satsang (a spiritual gathering)” and urging people to watch it. Sharing her review, she wrote, “#Hanumanansh is not a movie it’s a satsang, beautifully woven short stories of people who had first hand experience of #neemkaroribaba. Skip your therapy and go watch it (sic).”
Amid the sequel announcement, Hanuman Ansh continues its theatrical run. Directed by Vishal Chaturvedi, the film opened in cinemas on August 7 with Rs 10 lakh but later witnessed a dramatic rise in collections through strong word of mouth.
According to trade tracker Sacnilk, the film collected an estimated Rs 8.50 crore nett in India on Day 26, taking its total India nett collection to Rs 54.13 crore. Its India gross collection stands at Rs 63.82 crore.
Featuring actor Shobinaw Satyaa in the titular role, Hanuman Ansh has emerged as an unlikely box-office success. In a rare box-office feat, the film’s Tuesday collection eclipsed the seventh-day figures of actor Yash’s gangster film, Toxic: A Fairy Tale for Grown-ups, which earned Rs 8.20 crore. Although both projects differ drastically in scale and budget, the unexpected surge highlights the extraordinary theatrical run Hanuman Ansh is enjoying.
Mounted on a lean budget of around Rs 1.8 crore, strong word of mouth fuelled the film’s steady theatrical run into a certified sleeper success.
