There are films that attract you because of their stars, their scale and the amount of publicity around them. And then there are films that are perhaps beyond reviews. Hanuman Ansh belongs somewhere in between. It is a film that quietly entered theatres and took its own time to find its audience. There was hardly any noise around it when it released. Yet, slowly, people started talking about it and recommending it to others. In many ways, that is how this film deserves to be discovered.
I probably would not have watched Hanuman Ansh had it not been for a recommendation from an unexpected relative. It was one of those recommendations that makes you curious because the person recommending it is not someone you would normally expect to suggest a film like this. After watching it, though, I understood why the recommendation stayed with me. Perhaps it was simply a way of getting me to know more about Neem Karoli Baba and his life.
That is also what makes Hanuman Ansh different from most films based on spiritual figures. Neem Karoli Baba is a name many of us may have heard, but for a large number of people, the knowledge is limited to stories and anecdotes connected to his famous devotees. The film tries to take the conversation beyond those stories and show us the man himself.
Who was Neem Karoli Baba? What was his journey? Why did he devote his life to Lord Ram and Hanuman? And why did so many people, from ordinary villagers to well known personalities, feel such a deep connection with him?
Vishal Chaturvedi’s film attempts to answer these questions in a very simple manner. It does not try to turn Baba’s life into a grand commercial spectacle. There are no attempts to make every moment look bigger than it is. Instead, the film spends time with the people, places and experiences that shaped his journey.
The film takes us through the journey of a young man searching for Lord Ram and gradually becoming the Neem Karoli Baba that people came to know and revere. What comes through strongly is that his faith was not only about prayer or miracles. It was also about how one lived, how one treated people and how one served others.
The message is fairly simple. Have faith in God, but also have faith in yourself. Help people. Be compassionate. Remain humble. There is nothing particularly complicated about these thoughts, but the film makes you see them through Baba’s life rather than simply preaching them to you.
A lot of the film’s impact also comes from the world in which it is set. The villages, greenery, lakes, ashrams and simple homes give it a very different feel from the polished worlds we normally see in Hindi cinema. You get a sense of calm while watching it. The music helps considerably. The devotional and classical touches are used quite subtly and do not constantly try to tell you when you should feel emotional.
Shobhinaw Satyaa’s portrayal of Neem Karoli Baba is another reason the film works. He does not appear to be trying too hard to play a saint. There is a simplicity to the performance that suits the character. Vihaan Shedge, who plays the younger version, also helps establish the journey before Baba becomes the figure that people eventually come to know.
What I found interesting is that Hanuman Ansh does not feel like a film made primarily to become a commercial success. It feels like a film made by people who genuinely wanted to share something they believed in. That distinction matters.
Vishal Chaturvedi has spent years researching Neem Karoli Baba and has spoken about his own connection with him. The makers have also followed their own devotional practices during the making of the film. Even the way they promoted it was unusual, with bhandaras being organised instead of relying entirely on the kind of expensive publicity campaigns that normally accompany a theatrical release.
And then something interesting happened. Hanuman Ansh did not seem to have the kind of opening or publicity that would normally make people sit up and take notice. But the recommendations started coming. Someone watched it, liked it and told somebody else to watch it. That person told another. Slowly, the film began finding people who may otherwise never have walked into a theatre for it.
This is where the film’s story becomes more interesting than its box office numbers. The industry talks endlessly about creating word of mouth, but genuine word of mouth cannot really be created through a marketing strategy. It happens when someone watches something and feels strongly enough to tell another person about it.
The film is not perfect. Its pace is slow and there are portions that feel episodic. Those looking for a conventional biopic with constant drama and big emotional moments may find it too restrained. There are also moments when the film feels more like an account being shared by devotees than a tightly constructed mainstream screenplay. But perhaps that is also why it feels honest.
The people who made Hanuman Ansh seem less interested in telling us that they have made a big film and more interested in telling us about someone who changed their understanding of faith. That sincerity comes through.
For viewers who already know Neem Karoli Baba and have a personal connection with him, the film could mean something very different. For those who know little about him, it can serve as an introduction. And for someone like me who came to it simply because another person insisted that it was worth watching, the biggest takeaway is the curiosity it leaves behind.
You finish the film wanting to know more about Neem Karoli Baba, his teachings, his ashrams and the people whose lives he touched.
And what makes Maharaj Ji’s story even more interesting is how far his influence travelled beyond India. His name is today connected with people who could hardly appear more removed from the world of a small ashram in the Kumaon hills. Steve Jobs came to India in 1974 hoping to meet Maharaj Ji, though he arrived after Baba had passed away. Years later, Mark Zuckerberg visited Kainchi Dham, reportedly following Jobs’ advice at a difficult time for Facebook. Hollywood actor Julia Roberts has also spoken about how a photograph of Neem Karoli Baba drew her towards Hinduism. Then there are names such as Ram Dass, Larry Brilliant and Google’s Larry Page, whose lives and journeys have had a much deeper connection with Maharaj Ji’s teachings.
That is quite remarkable when you think about it. A saint who lived such a simple life in India ended up touching the lives of people from completely different worlds, including technology, Hollywood, medicine and spirituality. It suggests that the ideas associated with Maharaj Ji were never really restricted by geography or culture. Love, service, compassion and faith are things that can travel much further than the person who first spoke about them.
Maybe that is why films like Hanuman Ansh are beyond reviews. You can discuss the performances, the pace, the writing, the music and the filmmaking, and all of that has its place. But there is something else at work when a film leaves you wanting to know more about the person whose life it has just shown you.
And there is clearly much more of Neem Karoli Baba’s story left to be told. The makers have already announced a second part, with the next chapter expected to take the story into the years and places that shaped Maharaj Ji’s life further. In a way, that makes Hanuman Ansh feel less like a complete biography and more like the beginning of an introduction.
For someone discovering Neem Karoli Baba for the first time, that may be the most valuable thing the film does. It makes you curious. Curious about his life, his teachings, his ashrams, his devotees and the way his philosophy travelled from the villages of North India to people across the world.
Not every film needs to arrive with a huge campaign or a star cast telling you why you should watch it. Sometimes a film can simply sit quietly in a theatre and wait for somebody to discover it. Hanuman Ansh appears to have done exactly that.
And perhaps the most appropriate thing one can say about its journey is that good things sometimes take time to reach the people who need to find them.
Movie: Hanuman Ansh
Directed by: Vishal Chaturvedi
Featuring: Shobhinaw Satyaa, Vihaan Shedge, Chandan Anand, Purnima Tiwari
Cinematography: Vishal Bawa
Music by: Sadhu Sushil Tiwari
Theatrical Release Date: 7 August 2026
Run Time: 2hrs 30mins
Hanuman Ansh
5
