Neem Karoli Baba devotees Anushka Sharma, Virat Kohli, Julia Roberts to feature in Hanuman Ansh sequel? Producer reveals

Producer Namrata Singh spoke about the success of Hanuman Ansh and revealed if Neem Karoli Baba's celebrity followers will feature in the sequel.

Devotional drama Hanuman Ansh is the surprise success of the year. Written, directed and produced by Vishal Chaturvedi, the film is based on the life of Neem Karoli Baba. Ever since the film’s success, many wondered if the Baba's celebrity followers, such as Anushka Sharma, Virat Kohli and Julia Roberts, would feature in its sequel. Namrata Singh, who also produced the film, spoke all about it.

Virat Kohli, Anushka Sharma and Julia Roberts are devotees of Neem Karoli Baba. (Instagram/Getty via AFP)

Hanuman Ansh sequel to feature celebrity cameos?

Namrata spoke to Bollywood Hungama about Hanuman Ansh being conceived as a trilogy, based on Vishal’s book, Divine Detour: That Changed My Life. When asked if Baba’s celebrity devotees Anushka, Virat or Julia will feature in the sequel, the producer said, “I have reached out to some of them, and (they) were aware of the film earlier.”

Namrata also spoke about how Hanuman Ansh focused on Neem Karoli Baba’s early years up to the Kainchi Dam. She stated that the second part will focus on Kainchi and the third part will be set internationally. “There are thousands of devotees whose life he touched in India and they come first, without doubt. The Kainchi story is about the Indian devotees. The third film will focus on how he put India on the global map by spiritual energy that he transferred to the foreigners, be it Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, Julia Roberts, etc. However, we'll touch on it later (in the third part),” she said.

About Hanuman Ansh

Hanuman Ansh follows the early life of Lakshmi Narayan in pre-Independence India. He leaves home after his mother’s death in search of God. The film details his journey through North India and his transformation into Neem Karoli Baba. Shobhinaw Satyaa plays the titular role. It also stars Chandan Anand, Anil Rastogi, Sugandha Malhotra, Bhagvandas Patel, Neha Paranjpe, Uday Sinh Rajput, Purnima Tiwari and Gautam Tripathi.

The film was made on a modest budget and was released in theatres on August 7. While it initially didn’t bring in the bucks, word of mouth changed its fate after a few days. According to the trade website Sacnilk, Hanuman Ansh collected ₹173.63 crore net. The film was released worldwide on September 11 with Hombale Films handling the distribution.

Recently, the film’s team met Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. Earlier, Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami attended a special screening of the film and later described it as a must-watch spiritual movie for the cinemagoers.