Director Vishal Chaturvedi and lead actor Shobhinaw Satyaa met the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister as their low-budget spiritual film keeps outperforming expectations at the box office.
Vishal Chaturvedi and his lead actor Shobhinaw Satyaa spent Monday at the Chief Minister's residence in Lucknow, not on a film set. The Hanuman Ansh team called on Yogi Adityanath at his official house, a courtesy visit that the CM Office confirmed with photos posted from its own handle.
There wasn't much said publicly beyond the pleasantries captured on camera. But the timing tells its own story. A film made on what trade reports describe as a modest budget has turned into one of the year's more talked-about theatrical runs, and now it's pulling in visits from two BJP-run state governments inside a fortnight.
Uttarakhand got there first. Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami attended a special screening of the film and came out calling it a worth your time spiritual film, according to Bollywood Hungama. He went further than praise, announcing that Hanuman Ansh would be made tax-free in the state, a decision tied to the film's connection with Kainchi Dham, the ashram most associated with the film's subject.
A Baba's story, and a bigger release ahead
Hanuman Ansh, written and directed by Chaturvedi, follows the life of Neeb Karori Baba, the spiritual figure devotees know as Maharaj ji and revere as an incarnation of Hanuman himself. The film leans into his teachings on devotion and service, built around the line "love all, serve all, feed all and remember Ram." It's not a genre Bollywood bets big on these days, which makes the numbers it's pulling all the more unusual.
Taran Adarsh, never one to undersell a hit, has called it the biggest success story of 2026. That's a big claim in a year that's already seen Mirzapur The Movie cross Rs 100 crore in four days, but nobody's disputing that Hanuman Ansh has travelled far past what anyone expected of it going in.
The political attention is arguably doing as much for the film's visibility as any marketing push could. Chief ministerial screenings and Lucknow courtesy calls aren't standard release-week activity for a Hindi film, and the optics clearly work for both sides, the makers get validation and reach, the leaders get to be seen backing a film about a revered spiritual figure.
None of this changes what's coming next for the film itself. Hanuman Ansh is set for an international release on September 11, and its Telugu version, being handled separately by Trivikram, has its own overseas date lined up for the same window. Whether the political momentum in UP and Uttarakhand translates into a wider audience beyond the devotional circuit, or whether this stays a regional phenomenon dressed up as a national one, is the question the film's next few weeks will actually answer.
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