Hanuman Ansh director waived his fee, kept set vegetarian, followed fruit diet for 4.5 months

Hanuman Ansh, a devotional drama based on Neem Karoli Baba's life and philosophy, has become a surprise hit at the box office, surpassing Rs 100 crore in revenue. Writer-director Vishal Chaturvedi, who also produced the film, revealed that the 1975 classic Jai Santoshi Maa inspired him to create the movie. Chaturvedi noted that he studied Jai Santoshi Maa for one-and-a-half years to address a perceived gap in the market for spiritual and devotional films.

He waived his fee for directing Hanuman Ansh, stating that the film was profitable, yet the genre had been neglected. The set was vegetarian, and Chaturvedi maintained a fruit diet for about 4.5 months before the movie's release. Initially, the film faced a sluggish start, collecting around Rs 10 lakh on its opening day. However, it gained traction in its third week due to positive word-of-mouth and its devotional theme.