Author, Abhishek Pratap Singh
Designation, BBC correspondent
Published 2 minutes ago
Reading Time: 6 minutes
A saint who left the world about five decades ago, an ashram built in the hills of Uttarakhand and a film inspired by the life of that saint.
The beginning of the film was not like big Hindi films. But the film is in the headlines of this time. The reason for this is that this film named 'Hanuman Ansh' was a hit at the box office.
According to famous film critic Taran Adarsh, the film is approaching Rs 300 crore in terms of total revenue. Adarsh has written through a post on X that till Thursday the film has earned a total of Rs 272.23 crore.
Film critic Komal Nahata says that the film will easily cross the Rs 350 crore mark.
The scale of the film and its earnings also attract attention because during a conversation with BBC News Hindi, the producer of this film Anupriya Nagar said that the cost of the film was less than Rs 2 crore.
What was shown in the film?
Hanuman Ansh is a film based on the life of 'Neeb Karori Baba' and stories related to him. Its story begins with a man named Bhosale, who tells his grandson about his meeting with Baba. Then the story reaches Baba's childhood.
It is shown in the film that Lakshmi Narayan leaves home after the death of his mother. He feels that if he reaches God, maybe he will be able to meet his mother again.
Later on, his quest gets linked to helping people and feeding the hungry. Shobhinav Satya has played the main character of 'Neeb Karori Baba' in the film.
Shobhinav Satya has been praised for his acting.
Producer of this film, Anupriya Nagar, while talking to BBC, says that it was a big responsibility for Shobhinav Satya to know whether the audience would be able to accept him as an actor in the character of 'Neeb Karori Baba', but the way the audience responded, it shows that he has played a brilliant character.
Shubhra Gupta, film critic of The Indian Express, says that Shobhinav makes the character effective with his facial expressions, pauses and silence.
The screenplay has been worked on so neatly that you start feeling the era of the story. She further says that the people working in the film have played very good roles.
Talking about producer, Ragini Sona has already been working on the film. The films 'Kaun Hai Jo Sapno Mein Aaya' and 'Shukriya' of 2004 and 'Chocolate' of 2005 are associated with his name. She has worked as a producer in these films.
Ragini also played a role in keeping Hanuman Ansh in theatres. In an interview given to SCREEN, he told that the number of theaters showing the film had decreased significantly in the second week. At that time he and Vishal Chaturvedi decided to take the film forward.
The second producer of this film is Namrata Singh. Who has worked in digital media and entertainment business. According to a Music Plus interview published in January 2023, she was the head of digital and new technology work at Sony's company SETVI.
He told Bollywood Hungama that from the beginning the team wanted to tell this story in three films. According to him, the shooting of the first film was completed in 22 days. Of these, two days of shooting were done in Mumbai and the remaining shooting was done in Chitrakoot.
The song from the film went viral
A song from this film is viral on the internet which has been sung by Sunil Lodhi. He is blind in both eyes. After his song went viral on the internet, many big leaders and actors met him and praised his song.
According to an interview, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav has also assured help for the treatment of Sunil's eyes.
Many Indian films based on devotion, lives of saints and faith have performed well at the box office, such as the film Hanu-Mann, released in the year 2024, did a business of around Rs 300 crore at the box office.
Along with this, the film Mahavatar Narasimha, released in the year 2025, earned more than Rs 325 crore at the box office. There are many films related to religion and faith which have proved to be superhit at the box office.
Difficulties also increased with increasing crowd in Kainchi Dham
Another aspect of the popularity of Kainchi Dham is the infrastructure there. In the reporting of the Carrying Capacity Study of the year 2025, about 74 percent people had expressed dissatisfaction with parking and 58 percent had expressed dissatisfaction with sanitation. A joint committee report of Uttarakhand Pollution Control Board filed before the National Green Tribunal also mentioned the increasing pressure on sanitation-solid waste and sewage management due to people coming to Kainchi Dham.
The central government is also investing money in strengthening the infrastructure here. The official document of the Ministry of Tourism lists a sanctioned cost of Rs 17.60 crore for the development of Kainchi Dham Campus under the Challenge Based Destination Development Scheme.
This also shows that the attraction towards Kainchi Dham is no longer just a religious or cultural phenomenon but has also become a subject of administration and tourism planning.
Where 'Neeb Karori Baba' was born
In September 2026, the Uttar Pradesh government put forward a plan to connect the places related to 'Neeb Karori Baba' into a religious tourism route. According to the Indian Express, the proposed circuit includes Akbarpur in Firozabad, Neeb Karori Dham in Farrukhabad, Hanuman Setu Temple in Lucknow and places associated with Baba in Vrindavan.
This development is happening at a time when the success of the film 'Hanuman Ansh' has created new interest among people in the places and history associated with them.
A controversy has also come to light regarding Baba's ancestral house in Akbarpur. His six granddaughters have complained to the district administration and have accused a trust of controlling the property. The trust has denied the allegations and the Firozabad administration has formed a committee to investigate the claims. At present the investigation is still going on.
Why is the new generation so interested?
There is no direct answer to this question. But some arguments are definitely given on the basis of available facts. On one hand, there is the decades-old international legacy created through Ram Das, Krishna Das and Larry Brilliant. On the other hand, there are documented stories related to Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg.
Famous people like Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma visiting India and meanwhile, a successful film like 'Hanuman Ansh' has also become a part of this story.
Those who believe in him have their own reasons, while his identity reaches the new generation sometimes through Ram Dass and Krishna Das, sometimes through stories related to Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg and now through films like 'Hanuman Ansh'.
