Starting at 250 theaters and coming down to 25 in a week and now running in 1,200 screens in the fourth week, doctor-turned-debutant writer-filmmaker Dr Vishal Chaturvedi’s Hanuman Ansh on Neem Karoli Baba is doing wonders at the box office.

Calling it “magical, divine and driven by the audience,” he says, “At Rs. 1.7 cr, we just wanted the audience to watch and the investment to return but it did wonders (according to data Rs. 45 Cr only in India and counting). We have stopped looking at collections and counting the blessings, appreciation and love.”

Vishal is himself surprised with the “grace.” He says, “I guess what worked in the film primarily is Baba’s divine story (played by actor Shobhinaw Satyaa), music and the actors and makers who are very emotional about the subject. We hardly did any promotion and PR as we did not have any budget, but the audience played the role of PR with word-of-mouth and posting on social media. The audience have driven the film on their shoulders.”

He recalled how August 15 big releases hit them. “Due to the big films (Batwara 1947 and Awarapan 2,) our shows were reduced to just 25 screens but they kept running well. The audience wanted to watch but there were no shows, so people travelled 200-250 kms and posted on SM. There were videos that even after the film ended, the audience were so emotional that they did not get up from their seats. Probably that all worked which no PR can do.”

They did bhandaras instead on PR exercise. After the shows were reduced, they did a road trip from Mumbai. “We went to Rajkot, Surat, Ahmedabad and even small towns where we met the audience, local media and cinema owners. We did not have funds, so we amplified it on social media, and it was boosted by content creators and users with very emotional reels. It organically became viral and shows increased,” he says.

The film has been shot in Chitrakoot and has used Braj, Awadhi and Bundeli language to connect with the wider audience, he says.

A Lucknowite, Vishal completed his MBBS from Gorakhpur in 2006 and in the same year was posted in Haldwani when he got introduced to Baba and went to his ashram in Kainchi Dham (Uttarakhand) where he became a bhakt.

“In 2011, I stopped medical practice and came into writing and assisting in film. I have also worked with Anubhav Sinha for a few years and have assisted in films Hurdang (2022), Dedh Bigha Zameen (2024) and some shows too. My medical profession helps me a scientific and skeptical approach,” says the writer of TV series Fauji 2.

He also runs a Hanuman Chalisa Club which has 12,000 members.

As per Sacnilk, after 25 days it has earned gross collections to ₹53.82Cr and net collections to Rs. 45.63Cr so far.

Look at Pulkit’s short but impressive filmography, and it’s evident that the director is driven by hard-hitting stories. His pursuit was the same when making Maalik. “For me, the most challenging part was how not to make a simple action film. I wanted to tell a story that has action,” begins the director, recognising how many Hindi actioners rely on stunts rather than story.

But that has never been Pulkit’s modus operandi. For his first theatrical release, the director has reunited with Rajkummar Rao eight years after their web series, Bose: Dead/Alive (2017), to bring a gritty action entertainer about a common man who rises through the ranks to become a gangster in Allahabad. 

“Bhakshak [2024], Dedh Bigha Zameen [2024], and my upcoming film with Saif Ali Khan have all been based on real-life stories. This time, I wanted a break from reality,” he says.

While Rao attempted action before in Hit: The First Case (2022), Maalik is his first out-and-out actioner. Pulkit says that after Bose: Dead/Alive, he wanted an encore with the actor.

“Since the series, I was trying to work something out with Raj as he is an exciting actor to work with. While writing the story, I could only imagine him in the role. Raj immediately gave his nod as the film presents him in a completely different avatar. For an actor, it’s tough to step out of his comfort zone and jump into something so extreme. But Raj doesn’t get challenged easily. He prepares before he comes on sets.”

To play a feared gangster, Rao bulked up and underwent a transformation of sorts. The director shares, “Raj built his body, and grew his hair and beard for over 90 days. He is the kind of actor who will never wear a wig or fake beard. Wearing them makes an actor uncomfortable and restricts their performance. Besides the physical prep, the anger you see in his eyes started when we began our readings. Every time we met for readings, I could see the [mental] transformation taking place.”

Ask Pulkit if Rao had to train hard to pull off the stunts, and he surprises us with his answer. “He didn’t need to train at all. Few people know that Raj is a black belt in Taekwondo. So, action wasn’t tough for him. I don’t know why he hasn’t done it before.”

Besides Maalik, Pulkit has an investigative drama, titled Kartavya, in the pipeline. The gritty thriller has Saif Ali Khan playing a cop, with Sanjay Mishra and Rasika Dugal as co-stars.

When Dedh Bigha Zameen came his way, Pratik Gandhi’s first reaction was to the title, and an unfavourable one at that. Director Pulkit made him see that it had nothing in common with Bimal Roy’s classic, Do Bigha Zameen (1953). “After my first reading, I realized that it couldn’t have had any other name,” says Pratik.

In Dedh Bigha Zameen, the actor plays a common man who intends to sell his ancestral land, only to realize that it has been illegally possessed by a corrupt official. The hero battling an oppressive system is a common trope in Hindi cinema. But Pratik credits Pulkit of Bhakshak fame for developing a moving and essential story.

“Pulkit’s approach and writing are organic. Bhakshak disturbed me; I couldn’t sleep all night. He has the tendency to touch your core while asking questions that others don’t. We would create many scenes on the set. While performing, some lines hit differently, and Pulkit allows you the space to tweak a scene to your liking.”

Pratik showed his acting prowess with Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story (2020), and with the success of Madgaon Express, his star is on the rise. He considers himself a switch-on-switch-off actor. 

“When I am performing, I have two people inside me—Pratik and the character. The character is telling the story, Pratik is objectively looking at the performance. I’m critical of myself to the point of overthinking.”

His next big project is Gandhi, a multi-season series on Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. Last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated that the world did not know of the Mahatma until the film, Gandhi (1982), was made. The remark has been condemned by many across the country. The actor says the Mahatma has become all the more relevant today.

“The world needs Gandhi now more than ever before. Gandhi is not a person, he is a thought process. It’s necessary to know and understand where he comes from. With this show, we’re making a digital footprint of him. What we’ve read in school is only a portion of his life. Our series is delving into many aspects that people have not known. It will help them see Gandhi in a different light, even make him more human.”

A musician at heart and an actor by profession is how Khushali Kumar perceives herself. She is seamlessly juggling the two identities — after launching her new single Khushi jab bhi teri with Jubin Nautiyal, Kumar has kicked off the shoot of Dedh Bigha Zameen in Uttar Pradesh. “I can’t say acting is my first love, but it was definitely love at first sight. I have admired artistes who are at ease while portraying characters that they believe in. That inspired me to live different lives through each role,” says Kumar, who shares screen space with Pratik Gandhi in the Hansal Mehta-backed drama.

The first look of the film, which revolves around the struggles of the common man, sees her in a de-glam avatar. “I’m using this opportunity to break free from the quintessential glamorous image. I’m excited to collaborate with Pratik because he understands the nuances of acting.”

The Pulkit-directed film comes on the back of a yet-untitled psychological thriller led by R Madhavan. The singer-actor, who recently wrapped up the thriller, says she is enjoying the process of familiarising herself with a different universe through each project. She states, “The characters I am portraying are different from my personality. So, it’s [exciting] to discover an unexplored world.”