Experience of the Shanti Rasa or Bhaav is a key reason behind Hanuman Ansh’s success: Producer Namrata G Singh

In 2026, a film which has debunked many myths around Hindi cinema is Hanuman Ansh. Myths such as increasing aversion among audiences to watch films in theatres, only stars can pull audiences to theatres and small films can not get space in theatres have been broken by the film. Made on a modest budget of less than Rs3 crore, the film collected close to Rs340 crore (net collection) at the box office (the film is still running in theatres).

ET spoke with one of the producers of the film Namrata G Singh tounderstand the story behind the making of this great blockbuster.

One of the favourite expressions of Singh is Intellectual Property (IP). This expression does not seem out of context or radical. It is in sync with times. IP does not just mean business control. It means creative control. It means preserving the purity of a vision and achieving it. The underlying current throughout the conversation is she is particularly focused on preserving the purity and sanctity of her approach to her creative ventures.


Singh is one of the biggest proponents of adapting, sharing and spreading the Indian experience to the world. This is because this is where lies the foundation of her personality. She wants to share Indian stories rooted in spirituality and the wisdom contained in it. In this interview, Singh also explains how the Genz audiences view spirituality in today’s uncertain times. She also shares how she along with her collaborators overcame the challenges involved in making Hanuman Ansh.

Edited excerpts:

Could you talk about the IP studio SacredIP Trans Media Tech?

SacredIP Trans Media Tech aims to take Indian cultural stories to audiences around the world. I grew up reading Amar Chitra Katha comics and spiritual books published by Gita Press. I also once ran a comic-book company called Division 91. My inspiration comes less from the West and more from our own stories, cultural milieu and emotional vocabulary. All of these are reflected in the Navarasas.

The question for me has always been how to take these stories to a global audience. A story can be told through cinema, animation or any other format. Since 2017, I have been actively exploring how to build and reimagine businesses around Indian stories for the global market. My role is to protect intellectual properties (IPs), nurture them, and keep them relevant across formats and generations. I believe Indian stories are global assets. We have a responsibility to keep them alive for successive generations.

Some of the early IPs I developed included The Sufi Route. I collaborated with music director A. R. Rahman and Shital Bhatia of Friday Filmworks on the IP. Launched in 2017, these were music and event-based IPs. Building intellectual property has been a key thing for me. I worked in various capacities in big media and entertainment companies such as YRF and Sony. These experiences taught me how to develop and own an IP.

How did you apply these experiences to the film Hanuman Ansh?

My approach is rooted in the belief that creative works require an understanding of emotion and psychology. Owning IP allows you to carry a particular sensibility to audiences across generations. Regardless of a consumer’s age, you must think long-term. You must consider how a story can evolve across different formats. This is an approach found greater visibility in the success of Hanuman Ansh.

I have been a devotee of Neem Karoli Maharaj. Even our film’s director Vishal Chaturvedi is Neem Karoli Maharaj’s devotee. So, our shared devotion to Maharaj ji was the driving force behind the film. Vishal has been Maharaj ji’s devotee for twenty years. I have been a devotee for fourteen years. On my birthday last year, we realised that Maharaj Ji was a common thread between us. We simply asked ourselves what we could do. Then, we mutually decided to tell Maharaj ji’s story. We did not initially decide to make a film.

As we explored the idea, we realised that Maharaj Ji was such a cosmic, larger-than-life figure that cinema was a natural medium for telling his story. We also felt that his story was, in essence, a Ram Katha. It should first reach devotees who could experience it together in groups. These were instinctive and deeply human decisions. At every stage, our intention was to do justice to the story and share it with people. We were guided by that purpose and not by an industry report, an Excel sheet or a numerical model.

Could you talk about the challenges in the making of the film?

We intended to tell a small story and take it to people who love Maharaj ji. In our minds, it was a relatively modest undertaking. However, the process of bringing it to life was extremely difficult. One of the biggest challenges was the production and financing structure. We received what I would call ‘slave contracts’ from prospective co-producers. We were looking for funding. Contracts offered to us were structured as co-production agreements rather than intellectual property (IP) agreements. The industry people do not have sufficient understanding of IP ownership in the way we were trying to approach it. So, I kept asserting that I was an IP owner and that my co-founder, Swambu, owned the IP associated with Hanuman Ansh. This included authorship, ownership and the broader structure required to protect the property. We were offered co-production agreements in which we were expected to effectively give away our rights for a relatively small amount.

These arrangements did not consider the sensitivity of our story, the need to protect its creative integrity, or the emotional and psychological connection to the lived reality of Maharaj ji. I realised that although we often describe ourselves as creative people, we are essentially operating in a trading environment. For authentic storytellers, this transactional mentality can be deeply disappointing. It takes a toll because you are trying to tell a story in a particular way but the people negotiating with you do not necessarily understand or respect that intention.

Vishal and I, as co-founders, understood the film and its sensibilities best. However, our understanding was not given the required importance. This is because Vishal had not directed a film before. Even I had no experience in producing a film. We secured financing through two individuals who also came on board as producers. Ragini Sona supported the production. Anupriya A Nagar, the daughter of the UK-based financier Anshul Nagar, financed the post-production. Their support was important. Today, the film’s IP is fully secured by us.

Are there plans to release the film in other languages and formats?

Yes, we are now expanding the property into other formats. We are working with influencer-investor Vishal Gondal, who built fitness technology company GOQii, on a game called Hanuman Kavach. Vishal is also a Hanuman bhakt. We are developing accessibility features so that the film can be experienced by people who are deaf or hard of hearing. We are also working on different language versions. We do not yet have an English version. We would also like to develop a Sanskrit version of the film. There are also discussions around the animated version of the film. We are also thinking about the live music of the film. These things were possible because we never approached the film as a project. We saw it as an intellectual property through which Maharaj ji’s energy could be carried across formats and age groups. Our responsibility is to preserve that essence. If we can keep it intact, everything else will take care of itself.

Who owns Holi Cow Home Production?

Holi Cow Home Productions is Vishal's (the film’s director Vishal Chaturvedi) company. It is one of the production companies which produced Hanuman Ansh apart from Swambhu Media Network. Swambhu Media Network was founded by Vishal and I. Swambhu Media Network owns the Hanuman Ansh IP. The ownership and authorship of Hanuman Ansh reside within a private limited company because we always envisioned this as a long-term undertaking.

How did you plan to distribute the film and reach as many audiences as possible?

We created this film because we believed there was no other story in the world that explored Maharaj ji's childhood in this way. We understood that it would be a slow burn. We knew audiences will discover the film over time. Even if the film were made available on YouTube across many languages, it could generate revenue over a lifetime. Most people do not think that far ahead. However, for us, this film enterprise was never simply about money. If I want someone in Korea to watch the film, they should be able to watch it dubbed in Korean. Since we did not have the resources upfront, we had to plan for the long term. Many of our decisions were shaped by those constraints.

So far, most of the revenues have gone to distributors and exhibitors. We have yet to explore OTT, satellite television and other distribution avenues. But we were always clear that this was a timeless film that people would continue to watch digitally for generations, across languages and cultural contexts. Our responsibility is to make it accessible to them. Theatrical release was the first step. The non-theatrical distribution will be the second. We also intend to explore different language versions. Besides this, we also intend to explore digital distribution through subscription-based and transactional video-on-demand models.

Do you have any non-traditional ways of making the film available to its audiences?

Yes. Today, a fundamental question for us is: Why should content creators always depend on platforms and intermediaries rather than develop direct-to-audience models?

Therefore, group viewing is another possibility we are exploring for a film like this. All these possibilities were part of the film's DNA because we approached it through the lens of intellectual property (IPs) and not merely as a film. The film was the first step.

We also want to collaborate with some of the best talent in the world. We intend to collaborate with best animators, game designers, non-theatrical technology specialists and direct-to-audience experts. Each of these represents a distinct area of work. For instance, artificial intelligence has not yet been developed with an understanding of the Navarasas and their application to Indian storytelling. Much of the existing AI ecosystem has been shaped by Western perspectives. We lack sufficiently Indianised AI systems that can understand and work with these emotional frameworks. We want to explore this in the context of our film.

If we are talking about an Indian film rooted in our identity and taking stories of our saints to audiences around the world, we should be thinking on a much larger scale and for the long-term. Traders tend to look at a five-to-ten-year horizon rather than in terms of perpetuity, legacy and long-term value of intellectual property.

Could you talk about other producers? How did they come on board?

One of the film’s producers Ragini Sona is Vishal’s friend. They have known each for a long time. They used to recite the Hanuman Chalisa together as part of a Hanuman club they ran. So, when we needed funding, Vishal approached her. She is an experienced producer. Her insights were valuable. When nobody else was willing to invest, Ragini offered to contribute Rs50 lakh on the condition that someone else matched the amount. When no one came forward, I invested Rs50 lakh from my mutual fund savings. That is how we managed to complete production.

We needed additional funding for post-production. That is when Anupriya Nagar came on board as an investor.

We had a shareholders' agreement. The arrangement was structured around the four of us with each holding a 25% share in the IP along with a three-year lock-in period and other agreed terms.

What was the total budget of the film?

The film was made at a total cost of Rs 1.7 crore. Haldiram provided Rs 1.25 crore towards prints and advertising (P&A) as part of the co-production arrangement. Of the P&A budget, we spent approximately Rs 65–70 lakh on marketing with the remaining amount going towards the release. We wanted to ensure that the film remained in theatres for three weeks, which involved an additional expenditure of over Rs 40 lakh. The overall expenditure, including production and P&A, was approximately Rs2.95 crore or close to Rs3 crore.

Now let us talk about the film. How did you develop the film’s structure?

One of the biggest challenges in telling Maharaj ji’s story is how to portray his leelas. How do you represent these experiences without reducing them to miracles? We wanted to avoid presenting the story simply through the lens of miracles. For us, it is fundamentally about faith. The film has clearly been made with conviction, faith and good intentions. It does not feel as though it was created to cash in on or exploit someone else’s faith. That sincerity comes through.

When we set out to make the film, we had one simple principle: Maharaj ji’s story could only be told through the experiences of his devotees. The nine stories in the film are real. We brought them together within a particular narrative structure and gave the film a central idea.

What was the central idea of the film?

The film’s central idea is an exploration of the Hanuman Chalisa and its Ashta Siddhis (eight powers). We were telling the story of a man who became a saint over time while remaining a grihastha saint. These were our guiding principles: the Ashta Siddhis, the interpretation of the Hanuman Chalisa, his identity as a householder saint, and his journey from the age of 11 until 1942. We had conceived the project as a trilogy from the beginning. The first film tells this part of his journey, the second was intended to explore Kainchi, and the third would focus on a foreign devotee. Ultimately, you are telling a story that you have lived. I could not make a compelling film about Guru’s love if I did not have personal experiences.

Our primary focus was the bhaav or the underlying emotion and essence. His personality emerged well through the storytelling. He is not portrayed to be a perfect man. He is as flawed as any of us. He left home after his mother’s death. He discovered his sanskaras. He became a saint. And then, he married, had children, served as the mukhiya of his village, and built 108 temples during his lifetime. He undertook significant work in the external world. In his internal world, his life remained centred on the constant chant of “Ram Ram,” Ultimately, we wanted to draw attention to that inner experience—to what is happening within him as a person.

What was your approach towards achieving these lived experiences?

For me, storytelling is an act of transferring empathy. That transfer becomes difficult when you have not experienced or understood the reality you are trying to portray. This is also why I see the film as an intellectual property rather than merely a film. I cannot sell my sensibility. I can curate it, protect it and bring it into the world through different forms of storytelling.

Vishal and I are fortunate that we lead relatively simple lives and do not place too much importance on status or material possessions. That gives us the freedom to make certain choices. Once you become preoccupied with money and status, your cost of living rises, and you may begin making compromises that are not true to your work or your larger body of work.

What people may not fully recognise when they assess the film is how the film beautifully marries emotional quality with artistic and technical elements. The bhaava (rasa or emotion) we have drawn upon is Shanta Rasa (the film’s dominant emotional experience: Peace). One experiences peace and tranquillity when one watches the film. These qualities are increasingly absent from today’s world. The feeling of peace that the film evokes can be powerful precisely because it is so uncommon. People have experienced Shanti (peace) through the film.

Throughout the conversation, you have been talking about IPs. It is very evident now. Funders are focusing on IPs which have built-in audiences. The recent Hollywood film Backrooms is a key example. Did you follow a similar approach?

Our response and approach naturally reflect our devotion towards Maharaj ji. Even though I am excited about the possibility of making a trilogy around Maharaj ji, it is not the sentiment that governs our intentions. We made this film with a particular vow and intention. I want to preserve that spirit. Ultimately, we cannot allow these conversations to become transactional or exploitative. Figures such as Maharaj Ji and other saints are not commodities. These are matters of values and responsibility. As storytellers, we are not merely creating content. We are also infusing values through the stories we choose to tell.

How did you navigate the challenge of dealing with exhibitors especially when the film has no known names? How do you convince them?

I didn't convince them. We showed the film to only two people before its release: Anil Thadani (one of the biggest film distributors in India) and Mayank Shroff (head, film programming from Cinepolis). Ultimately, we chose Cinepolis because the terms they offered made the most sense for us.

Vishal and I had initially imagined it as a small film intended primarily for tier-2 and tier-3 cities and rural India. We were not looking to release it exclusively in expensive cinemas. We wanted people to be able to watch it in smaller theatres with tickets priced at around Rs100 without feeling that they needed to belong to a particular economic class or dress a certain way to enter a cinema.

Cinepolis had a presence in the kinds of locations we wanted to reach. This was an important consideration. Our devotees come from different economic backgrounds. We did not want the cost of a ticket or the environment of a cinema to become a barrier in their experience of the film. We wanted to create a space where they could recite the Hanuman Chalisa and keep Maharaj Ji on a seat as a mark of devotion. We felt that Cinepolis understood and respected that sensibility.

Even PVR has been one of our strongest supporters. PVR's CSR division subsequently supported us by providing discounted tickets and food for underprivileged children, including children with cancer. We remain grateful for that support.

What convinced Mayank Shroff to back the film?

Apart from the film’s merits, we also benefited from the fact that Mayank is a fellow devotee of Maharaj ji. We didn't really have to sell it.

Today, we are seeing a lot of faith-based films being made. Do you think there is a section among Gen Z audiences which is returning to our roots or has become interested in spirituality? Bhajan clubbing is a case in the point.

I do not necessarily see this as a return to our roots. We need to understand that today there are three generations living alongside one another. Also, nearly 70% of India’s population is below the age of 30. Today, we are consuming spirituality through our phones. Earlier, one would get spiritual knowledge or understanding primarily through a temple visit, a book, a religious scholar or the wisdom passed down by our grandparents.

For younger people, this accessibility can spark curiosity and encourage them to explore these subjects more deeply. They do not necessarily accept every subjective experience at face value. They look for objectivity within subjectivity. Spirituality is inherently subjective. The sheer volume of information now available allows people to explore the relationship between science and spirituality.

I often describe the three generations in this way: our parents were thinkers and doers; we are thinker-doers; and the generation after us is a generation of imagination. I believe this younger generation is increasingly drawn to India's eternal beings: deities, spiritual teachers, gurus or saints.

But there are many young people in the audience who have liked the simplicity of the film. They are neither followers nor devotees. How do you respond to that?

Yes. Today, I think the pursuit of external markers of success—whether becoming a CEO, a footballer or achieving fame and wealth—is not necessarily bringing people peace. Many are experiencing anxiety, depression and other mental health challenges. They are beginning to question whether these conventional aspirations can provide the fulfilment they seek. This generation is therefore realigning itself with fundamental human values. The stories that resonate with them increasingly revolve around human endeavours. Cinema, which once focused on narratives at the scale of entire population, is now also exploring stories at a deeply human level.

Maharaj ji's story is an example of this kind of connection. It allows people to engage with his life and experiences at a personal level. The story has a global relevance because its appeal is human rather than geographically or culturally restricted. Not everyone can travel to Vrindavan or live in a temple town, so people are looking for other ways to experience spirituality and connect with these traditions.

I believe this generation is increasingly interested in contributing to society rather than pursuing only individual success. They have grown up with relatively greater access to basic needs such as food, clothing and shelter. Many are now asking what they can do with the opportunities available to them. If they choose to pursue something, they want it to have meaning. Today’s young generation is a generation of imagination. They are increasingly drawn to human endeavour and fundamental values. There is a common thread that connects us all: we are looking for peace of mind, meaning and purpose. I think this explains the growing interest among younger people in practices such as bhajan clubbing. We have grown up listening to kirtans and attending Satsangs, but this generation is finding its own way of engaging with these traditions.

I disagree with the idea that people turn to spirituality only when they are broken or looking for solace or an escape from their problems. I think that is a limited understanding of spirituality. Spiritual practices and rituals offer us a moment to pause in a world where we are constantly bombarded with information. Our minds are burdened by cognitive overload.

When you stand in a temple or participate in bhajan clubbing, your senses align with something deeper and greater than yourself. There is a certain loss of the individual self as you move from an ‘I’ to a ‘we’. That experience can make you feel good because it connects you to a shared sense of humanity. Any sensory experience that brings you closer to that common humanity is good for the soul. It reminds you that you are not merely a human being but a spiritual being having a human experience.

Our spiritual traditions are deeply rooted in respecting people for who they are rather than expecting everyone to be alike. We are not meant to be cookie-cutter versions of one another. The current young generation is discerning. This generation can see through performance, pretence and public relations. If you offer young people something genuinely positive, they will recognise its value and embrace it. They do not necessarily need to be experiencing a problem to appreciate what spirituality has to offer. We should give this generation credit for its ability to distinguish what is meaningful from what is merely performative. Ultimately, much of the film’s success can be attributed to the growing word-of-mouth communications and recommendations.