Review: Hanuman Ansh

Hanuman Ansh doesn't try to make Neem Karoli Baba's life into a conventional biopic, and that restraint is its smartest choice. Shobhinaw Satyaa plays the saint with a quiet, unforced conviction, more interested in stillness than in the swelling-score moments this genre usually leans on, and the film's devotional soundtrack does real work in the scenes where dialogue steps back. Chandan Anand offers steady support in a story built around faith, service and quiet compassion rather than incident.

What holds it back is pacing. The screenplay moves on a single, unhurried track for most of its runtime, and without a strong secondary conflict to lean on, the film's better stretches start to blur together well before the 150 minutes are up. This is a story rooted specifically in Neem Karoli Baba's following in Uttar Pradesh, and Hanuman Ansh makes little effort to widen that appeal for viewers who aren't already curious about his teachings, which will test the patience of anyone who wandered in for something more eventful.

What holds it back is pacing.

Three and a half stars for a film that knows exactly who it's for and never strains to be anything else. What makes Hanuman Ansh worth a second look is the story happening outside the frame: on a budget this modest, it has kept adding, not shedding, collections week over week, an unusual shape for any release and a rarer one for a film with no major stars behind it.