Hanuman Ansh, a modest ₹2 crore film, has taken the box office by surprise. After opening to just ₹10 lakh, the film is now raking in crores every day and has crossed ₹200 crore in India. Its songs have also struck a chord online, with content creators flooding social media with reels featuring the music.
In an exclusive interview with Hindustan Times, the film’s music composer Dhirendra Mulkalwar opened up about its unexpected success, how he believes Baba Neem Karoli’s divine intervention helped him create the film’s sonic palette in just five minutes, and how the same big films that once rejected him are now approaching him with offers following Hanuman Ansh’s success.
Dhirendra Mulkalwar on Hanuman Ansh's success
Talking about Hanuman Ansh's ₹200 crore box office success, Dhirendra revealed that he and the entire team is still processing it. He added, "This is like a miracle for us. We still don't know how to react to it. I think we have surrendered ourselves and are seeing it as a blessing from Babji, actually."
Dhirendra revealed that the crew faced several challenges while making the film, largely due to budget constraints. However, he said the problems never lasted for long. He shared that every morning, before beginning the first shot, the entire crew would chant the Hanuman Chalisa and perform aarti for 30–40 minutes. By the time the prayers were over, he said, the problems would either disappear on their own or the team would find a solution to them. He also revealed that everyone on set followed a sattvik diet and maintained a sattvik way of life throughout the film’s shoot.
{{/usCountry}}Dhirendra revealed that the crew faced several challenges while making the film, largely due to budget constraints. However, he said the problems never lasted for long. He shared that every morning, before beginning the first shot, the entire crew would chant the Hanuman Chalisa and perform aarti for 30–40 minutes. By the time the prayers were over, he said, the problems would either disappear on their own or the team would find a solution to them. He also revealed that everyone on set followed a sattvik diet and maintained a sattvik way of life throughout the film’s shoot.
{{/usCountry}}Dhirendra revealed that he spent nearly two months working on the film’s first theme before meditating upon Baba Ji and coming up with the tune within minutes. He said similar instances happened several times during the making of Hanuman Ansh, with ideas seemingly coming to him whenever he felt stuck and fitting perfectly into the film.
Dhirendra said he received an overwhelmingly positive response when he showed the music of Hanuman Ansh to friends for feedback. He recalled singer Shantanu Sudame calling the film music “adbhut” and encouraging him to work on it with dedication. Dhirendra added that everyone who saw the work experienced a sense of divinity.
The music composer admitted that social media played a very important role in the film’s success and said, "In the second week, when our screens were reduced to just 30, Vishal and the entire team travelled from city to city in their cars, from Mumbai to Surat and then to Delhi, to promote the film. On social media, people could see that those coming out after watching the film had tears in their eyes. So, all of this happened organically. Social media played a very big role in the upward trend we saw in the box office collections and the number of screens increasing."
When Dhirendra Mulkalwar was rejected from big films
Talking about his life before Hanuman Ansh and how he moved to Mumbai with big dreams, Dhirendra said, "I come from a small district in Maharashtra called Chandrapur, which was a Naxal-affected district. I grew up around forests, so I have listened to a lot of tribal and folk music since childhood. But at that time, coming to Mumbai from such a small place seemed impossible. Somehow, I made it here."
He added, "Initially, I worked on ad films and jingles. But throughout this period, my dream was to see my name on the big screen. That dream kept slipping away. Many people liked my work, but those films would either get shelved or I would be replaced, with people saying that it was a big film and they couldn’t take a newcomer."
Dhirendra recalled how he got Hanuman Ansh and said, "So, I went through all these ups and downs. It has been almost 20 years now. Right until before Hanuman Ansh, I was thinking that perhaps I should take another path, maybe leave Mumbai and return to my hometown. Around that time, I visited Kainchi Dham last year. I had been trying to go there for four years, but it just never happened. Just two months after my visit, Vishal ji offered me this film. It was a miracle in my life. I thought maybe Baba Ji had seen my struggle and said, ‘You have struggled for years, and now your time has come. This film will change the trajectory of your life.’"
The music composer talked about the impact of Hanuman Ansh's success and said, "Phone calls are coming in with people congratulating me. I am getting some offers and am in talks for some of them. I am very hopeful. Before Hanuman Ansh, I was unsure whether I would be able to make a career in films, but Baba Ji has given me such a big success. Now I have left it all to him. I am getting calls from people who had rejected me before. So, I am very positive and hopeful."
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