“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?” – Albus Dumbledore
My sister and I generally do
not agree on movies. She is more of a Dabangg-girl; I am more of an Interstellar-guy.
I’ve long learnt not to entertain her recommendations, and she knows this
better than anyone else. So naturally I was surprised when she came and told me
that not only would I enjoy Hanuman Ansh, but she would watch it again as
well.
I checked out the movie. The
cast and crew were unknown. Not just unknown, but the director, lead actor,
singers… nobody even had a Wikipedia page. The movie barely had one. The songs
seemed to be all traditional folk songs with no particular lyricist. Normally,
I would ignore such movies as the futile attempt of some overzealous assistant
director from Oshiwada who was doomed to fail. But my sister’s excitement got
to me. I agreed and we booked a Sunday matinee show.
The theatre was full, contrary
to my expectations. Even before the movie began, there were subtle hints of
what was to come. There were absolutely no posters of the movie throughout the
cinema hall, which was unusual. There weren’t many ads at the beginning of the
movie. With a budget of only Rs. 2 Cr, I guess they didn’t spend on marketing
at all. Come to think of it, how do you make a movie for Rs. 2 Cr in modern
India anyway? Even Masaan
was made on a budget of Rs. 7 Cr; but it did enjoy relatively known faces
like Richa Chadha and Vicky Kaushal from recent Gangs of Wasseypur fame.
Hanuman Ansh seemed to be made by a rag-tag group of theatre actors who
wanted to get into filmmaking. But more on that later.
The movie begins with a
disclaimer, which was a herald of things to come. Hanuman Ansh is the
story of Neem Karoli
Baba. It should classify as a devotional movie or a biopic – a
controversial genre in contemporary India. Normally such movies follow a long
disclaimer. The disclaimer of Dhurandhar: The Revenge runs into 15 lines
putting all kinds of legal liabilities behind the movie. The disclaimer of Mahavatar
Narsimha runs 7 lines emphasizing the religious nature of the movie and
dramatization of some events. The disclaimer of Hanuman Ansh is just 3
lines – more like bullet points than sentences
- This is a devotional movie
- Some events are dramatized for the purposes of cinematic representation
- The ultimate interpretation to the wisdom of the audience
The usual long disclaimers
about not hurting the sentiments of any community or any resemblance
to any person being coincidental are absent. Rather, the wisdom of the
audience is trusted. It has been a long time since a movie has trusted the
wisdom of the audience. As a writer myself, I have difficulty trusting my
audience anymore. This movie operates on conviction. And thankfully,
finds its audience.
There are 2 scenes where this
conviction is tested. One is when Baba leaves the town of Neem Karori. The
entire town tries to stop him. When Baba does not relent, the town cries for a
long time. Another is a scene where a person chants the Hanuman Chalisa in a
night-scene in a forest. It is not a musical recitation of the Hanuman Chalisa.
It’s just a man reciting it. With abrupt pauses, no rhythm, and no sense of
melody. It’s like any average person would recite the Hanuman Chalisa when they
find themselves in a spooky forest in the middle of the night. Both scenes run
for over a minute on screen. Moviemakers don’t make such scenes anymore. There is
always the risk of losing the short-attention span of the audience. People
might forward the scene or check WhatsApp messages watching the movie
screen-in-screen on their phones. This has been a point
of debate among cinematic circles in recent times. Hanuman Ansh
moves forward putting two scenes where they risk alienating the audience. The
audience doesn’t budge. After a long time, we see a movie made with honesty and
sincerity which feels refreshing. This movie does not chase TRPs; and that
works with an audience starved for honesty.
Another point to note is given
the right-winged times of the world propounded by movies like Dhurandhar and
Kashmir Files. This movie does not delve into any politics or propaganda of any
kind. It remains true to its devotion to Neem Karoli Baba and does not sway
from it.
Coming to the cast and crew, long-time
moviegoers will immediately recognize the crew as theatre trained. There is a
fair bit of neck-acting, formally known through the Natya Shastra in Indian
traditions. The most famous master of the art in recent times being Pankaj
Tripathi. The camerawork is on spot, which syncs perfectly with the music,
telling you that this is not an amateur crew, but a very experienced one who
just haven’t worked on a big budget before. Thankfully, they will be able to
now.
The background setting, minimal
VFX, and costumes, dissolve seamlessly into the movie with nothing bothering
the eye – just as good infrastructure should be. The Director comes with some
experience over a few other projects, which I am now excited to watch. The lead
actor is experiences as an assistant director with this being his first acting
assignment. Like all good assistant directors, he delivers. It would be a
miracle if this movie ends up grossing higher than Namit Malhotra’s Ramayan,
but that may be a possibility. At least in terms of remaining true to the core
message, Hanuman Ansh does a phenomenal job that any high-budget movie
will not be able to do due to production constraints.
I walked out of the theatre
with an unusual problem. At no point does the movie claim that the story is
true. In fact, it takes efforts to disclaim the supernatural claims as fantasy
and tricks on the eye. But I came out wanting the fantasy to be true. The engineer
in me wasn't convinced. But perhaps that is exactly what the movie intended
when it left the ultimate interpretation to the wisdom of the audience. Now that
Hanuman Ansh has seen success, I hope it encourages filmmakers to look
beyond the familiar mythology and tell more of these strange, forgotten stories
of mystical India. We may not believe all of them. Perhaps we don't always need
to.
