Hanuman Ansh Faced Major OTT Rejection, Says Director Vishal Chaturvedi
Sharma and Chaturvedi’s team has revealed the difficult path he has taken to the end for ‘Hanuman Ansh’ (2016 film)
It was rejected by one of the major OTT studios, so the movie was just not released in theaters, when he got in the final stages of pitching and the movie was rejected and it was not accepted as a movie, so even though he was so disappointed and hurt by the reaction, the response to him when he was pitching it, because the project was perceived as a failure.
In a recent interview, Chaturvedi spoke about his efforts to bring the story of Neem Karoli Baba, whom he respectfully refers to as Maharaj Ji, to audiences.
The rejection did not take away from the film director's desire to tell the story on his own terms, he said.
Chaturvedi described the experience as something he found “a little derogatory,” implying that his response was not to understand or appreciate the subject he was interested in.
For the filmmaker, Hanuman Ansh was more than just another film project. It was an attempt to present the life, teachings and spiritual influence of Neem Karoli Baba to a wider audience.
The film’s story has been remarkable in that from a very poor start to a box office success.
Hanuman Ansh started with a modest funding of about ₹10 lakh as a new release and slowly gained momentum through word of mouth. This film made with a rather low budget has become one of the surprise hits of 2026.
The film is about Neem Karoli Baba and deals with faith, devotion, service and humanity.
Though there was little industry backing and no theatrical exposure, audiences helped to change everything.
Chaturvedi has voiced his disappointment at the lack of Bollywood support on the film. The number of screenings for the movie at one point in time had fallen dramatically and the filmmakers’ future was uncertain.
But audience interest picked up and the film started getting more and more attention.
The unexpected success has also opened new doors to this franchise. Chaturvedi has said that there is a sequel on its way and that the response to the first film has encouraged the team to continue the story.
Kangana Ranaut has also praised Hanuman Ansh, describing its experience as being closer to a spiritual gathering than a conventional movie.
The film’s success shows how difficult it is to forecast audience reactions. A project that was rejected in the early stages has gained great attention at the box office.
And it’s a story that could motivate filmmakers to go on to tell stories that might seem difficult for them to market via standard entertainment channels.
Chaturvedi’s OTT rejection seems to work as a larger story about perseverance. Rather than allow the setback to end the project, he began working to bring Hanuman Ansh to theatres.
Its subsequent success has given the filmmaker a strong reason to believe that audiences can ultimately decide the fate of a film.
As Hanuman Ansh is still generating discussion, Chaturvedi’s comments have added another chapter to the film’s strange story from an early OTT setback to unexpected theatrical success.
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