‘Hanuman Ansh’ continues its impressive run at the box office, having collected Rs. 134.20 crore nett in India so far since its release. But behind the surprise success is an equally unusual origin story — one that connects Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, Indian spiritual leader Neem Karoli Baba and a 21-year-old economics graduate named Anupriya Nagar, whose academic research unexpectedly paved the way for her debut as a film producer.
Anupriya Nagar never planned to enter the film industry
Anupriya Nagar had no plans to pursue a career in cinema. After completing her economics degree in the UK, she had secured a promising opportunity in the art industry and was preparing to move to Switzerland.Speaking to ABP Live, she recalled, “I have done my graduation in economics from the UK. I was there for three years. I just graduated last year. It was never part of my plan to make a film or return to India. I was planning to shift to Switzerland, where I had bagged a great job in the art industry because I have grown up among art all my life.”Her career trajectory, however, changed completely after an academic project during her final year of college led her to an unexpected discovery.
How Steve Jobs led Anupriya Nagar to Neem Karoli Baba
While researching the origins of ideas developed by the founders of major technology companies, Nagar came across information about Steve Jobs and his connection to Neem Karoli Baba.She explained, “In my final year in college, I was researching several tech companies. I was researching where founders of Apple and Meta got these ideas from. While reading one such article, I found out that Neem Karoli Baba had influenced Steve Jobs, who at Kainchi Dham came up with the idea of making the world’s colour computer. Reading that article, I wondered why I was getting information about an Indian saint from a foreigner. That triggered me to do more research on that.”The discovery sparked a deeper interest in Neem Karoli Baba and eventually led Nagar to consider documenting what she had learned.
Anupriya Nagar initially wanted to write a book or comic
At the time, Nagar was only 20 and had no filmmaking background. Her initial plan was not to make a movie but to turn her research into a book or comic.“I first thought to write a book or comic book. I was just 20. But when I came to India, I came across Vishal Chaturvedi, who was making a film on Neem Karoli Baba. It was all unplanned, pure coincidence,” she said.That chance meeting with director Vishal Chaturvedi became the turning point. What began as an academic curiosity eventually evolved into a film project, with Nagar stepping into the role of producer.
From college research to ‘Hanuman Ansh’
The journey from researching Steve Jobs and Neem Karoli Baba to producing a feature film was far from something Nagar had planned. Her encounter with Chaturvedi provided the missing link between her research and cinema. Today, ‘Hanuman Ansh’ has emerged as a notable box-office success, making Nagar’s journey from economics graduate to film producer particularly striking. At just 21, she has found herself behind a film that has crossed the Rs. 100 crore mark in India, after entering the industry through a path that began not in a film school or studio, but with research undertaken during college.
