Hanuman Ansh which is inspired by the teachings of spiritual guru Neem Karoli Baba, has turned into an unexpected box-office success. After opening to a relatively quiet response in theatres, the film has picked up steadily and has now crossed the Rs 100 crore mark.Amid the film’s strong run, writer-director and producer Vishal Chaturvedi has opened up about the inspiration behind the project. He revealed that the 1975 devotional classic Jai Santoshi Maa had a major influence on his decision to make Hanuman Ansh. Chaturvedi also disclosed that he chose not to take a directing fee for the film.Vishal said he had spent the last one-and-a-half years closely studying Vijay Sharma’s Jai Santoshi Maa. According to him, the success of the film highlighted the potential of spiritual and devotional cinema at a time when the genre had largely disappeared from mainstream filmmaking.“Jai Santoshi Maa is one of the most successful films in the history of Indian cinema and not many people know about it. And, I have been mugging up that film since the past one and a half years, because there’s a vacuum of this category of films. It was a spiritual film, released with Sholay, but earned 100 times more than its budget. It’s not just an all-time blockbuster but it was the most profitable film in Indian cinema history. But, why the genre was killed and no film was made on the same lines again, this question kept coming up in my mind,” he said on The Raunac Podcast.Chaturvedi, who backed Hanuman Ansh as its producer as well as directing it, said he decided to waive his remuneration for the project.“I am also the film’s producer and director, I waived off my fees for the film,” he shared.He also recalled the disciplined and devotional environment he created during the making of the film. The filmmaker said the entire set followed certain practices that aligned with the film’s spiritual subject.“The set was vegetarian, and we used to do the Hanuman chalisa path everyday. In fact, I was on a fruit diet for around 4.5 months before the film’s release,” he shared.In another conversation with India TV, Vishal discussed the challenges he faced while trying to package and pitch the film during its early stages. He revealed that he had approached OTT platforms with the story but was met with an unexpected response.“I had gone to pitch my story on an OTT platform, and there they told me that I have an Indian story with international relevance. I narrated Maharaj Ji’s story in such a way that I literally broke down,” he said.Reflecting on the rejection, the filmmaker said he felt the language used by the platform was dismissive and that the experience strengthened his resolve to tell the story.“Mujhe laga jis tarah unhone reject kiya, jis bhaasha ka prayog kiya, woh thodi derogatory thi (The way they rejected, the language they used to reject me was derogatory). way they said it, I felt that the narrative in their mind, the way they rejected it, there is a hole in their mind through the narrative. Now it is necessary to bust that narrative. We are filmmakers, we have been rejected a thousand times. You narrate a story and if you don’t understand it, you say that it is good, but we will do it later.”Hanuman Ansh arrived in cinemas on August 7 and initially struggled to attract audiences, earning approximately Rs 10 lakh on its opening day. The film, however, witnessed a gradual turnaround, with its third-week collections receiving a notable boost as positive word-of-mouth and audience interest in its devotional subject began to grow.Based on the life and philosophy of Neem Karoli Baba, Hanuman Ansh has been written, directed and produced by Dr Vishal Chaturvedi. Shobhinaw Satyaa features in the lead role.