Starting at 250 theaters and coming down to 25 in a week and now running in 1,200 screens in the fourth week, doctor-turned-debutant writer-filmmaker Dr Vishal Chaturvedi’s Hanuman Ansh on Neem Karoli Baba is doing wonders at the box office.
He recalled how August 15 big releases hit them. “For both big films ( Batwara 1947 and Awarapan 2 ) our shows were reduced to just 25 screens but they kept running well. The audience wanted to watch but there were no shows, so people travelled 200-250 kms and posted on SM. “In 2011, I stopped medical practice and came into writing and assisting in film. I have also worked with Anubhav Sinha for a few years and have assisted in films Hurdang (2024), Dedh Bigha Zameen (2024) and some shows too. My medical profession helps me a scientific and skeptical approach,” says the writer of TV series Fauji 2 .
Vishal is himself surprised with the “grace. We hardly did any promotion and PR as we did not have any budget, but the audience played the role of PR with word-of-mouth and posting on social media. The audience have driven the film on their shoulders. There were videos that even after the film ended the audience were so emotional that they did not get up from their seats. Probably that all worked which no PR can do.
He says, “I guess what worked in the film primarily is Baba’s divine story (played by actor Shobhinaw Satyaa), music and the actors and makers who are very emotional about the subject. The film has been shot in Chitrakoot and has used Braj, Awadhi and Bundeli language to connect with the wider audience, he says.
