''Hanuman'' is a 2005 Indian

animated Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...

feature film A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

directed by V. G. Samant and produced by Shailendra Singh at Percept Picture Company and Silvertoons. The animated film dramatizes the life of its title character,

Hanuman Hanuman (; sa, हनुमान, ), also called Anjaneya (), is a Hindu god and a divine '' vanara'' companion of the god Rama. Hanuman is one of the central characters of the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. He is an ardent devotee of Rama and on ...

, a Hindu Deity. The animation was created by Silvertoons. It is India's first full-length fully animated feature film to be released theatrically (there were several earlier ones made by Pentamedia Graphics). The film popularised animation and kickstarted the growth of India's animation industry.

Plot

This animated movie depicts Hanuman's life from birth. The narrator is actor

Mukesh Khanna Mukesh Khanna (born 23 June 1958) is an Indian actor, talk show host and producer who works in Hindi language films and television shows. He is best known for his portrayal of Shaktimaan, the superhero character in '' Shaktimaan'' (1997–2005) ...

. The movie relays how Hanuman was born to Anjani (a female Apsara) and Kesari, by the blessings of Vayu-Dev, the Wind God. Hanuman, who is the 11th rudra incarnation of

Shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...

was blessed with supreme intelligence, strength and divine powers. As a baby, Hanuman was quite naughty and used his powers to pester the saints living in the nearby forest. Once when he was hungry, he leapt to catch the sun thinking it was a fruit. On the insistence of

Vayu Vayu (, sa, वायु, ), also known as Vata and Pavana, is the Hindu god of the winds as well as the divine massenger of the gods. In the '' Vedic scriptures'', Vayu is an important deity and is closely associated with Indra, the king of ...

, Indra and the other Gods came together to bless Hanuman with immortal life. Hanuman's blessings include: no fear/harm from the Brahmastra, no harm could befall him from weapons, fire or water. He could overcome death and he could transform his body to take the smallest form or attain the biggest form of life. Blessed with divine powers Hanuman grew up to be powerful. He helped Lord Ram and Laxman in their search for

Sita Sita (; ) also called as Janaki and Vaidehi is a Hindu goddess and the female protagonist of the Hindu epic, ''Ramayana''. She is the consort of Rama, the avatar of the god Vishnu, and is regarded as a form of Vishnu's consort, Lakshmi. She ...

. Hanuman burned the golden city Lanka and with his super powers helped Lord Ram and Laxman defeat

Ravana Ravana (; , , ) is a rakshasa king of the island of Lanka, and the chief antagonist of the Hindu epic ''Ramayana'' and its adaptations. In the ''Ramayana'', Ravana is described to be the eldest son of sage Vishrava and rakshasi Kaikesi. ...

and secure the release of Sita. Seeing his devotion and love towards him, Lord Ram blessed Hanuman with the boon of immortality.

Voice cast

Chiranjeevi Chiranjeevi (born Konidela Sivasankara Varaprasad; 22 August 1955) is an Indian actor, film producer and former politician, who predominantly works in Telugu cinema. Chiranjeevi starred in over 150 feature films in Telugu, as well as some fil ...

in Telugu version *Viraj Adhav as ''Ram'' *Sumit Pathak as ''Laxman'' * Mona Shetty as ''Seeta'' * Manoj Pandey as ''Meghnath''/ Vanararaj Kesari * Rajesh Jolly as ''Ravana'' *Sanket Jaiswal as ''Angad'' * Shahnawaz Pradhan as ''Sugreev'' *

Manish Wadhwa Manish Wadhwa (born 1972) is an Indian actor and voice actor. He is best known for his roles Chanakya in Chandragupta Maurya, Kans in Paramavatar Shri Krishna and Amal Nanda/Dansh in Hero – Gayab Mode On. Filmography Films Television *' ...

as ''Indradev'' *Anup Shukla as ''Pawan dev'' *Tirthankar Mitra as Junior Hanuman

Soundtrack

Soundtrack was composed by Tapas Relia. *Akadam Bakadam Dekho Yeh Tikadam - Shravan *Hanumaan Chalisa -

Vijay Prakash Vijay Prakash (born 21 February 1976) is an Indian Playback singer and also a Music Composer from Karnataka. He has given his voice for predominantly Kannada and Telugu language films. In addition, he has also sung in Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam ...

, Rashmi, Nandini Srikar *Jai Hanuman Gyan Gun Sagar -

Shankar Mahadevan Shankar Mahadevan (born 3 March 1967) is an Indian singer and composer who is part of the Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy trio that writes music for Indian films. Personal life and early career Shankar Mahadevan was born in Chembur, Mumbai into a Tam ...

Kailash Kher Kailash Kher (born 7 July 1973) is an Indian music composer and singer. He sings songs with a music style influenced by Indian folk music and Sufi music. He was inspired by the classical musicians' Pandit Kumar Gandharva, Pandit Hridaynath Ma ...

*Jai Bajrangbali - Palash Sen, Kinshuk Sen *Bridge Across The Ocean - Vijay Prakash *Destroying The Ashok Vatika - Vijay Prakash *Kumbhkaran - Vijay Prakash

Business

Percept entertained in to a merchandising deal with Kishore Biyani's

Future Group Future Group is an Indian conglomerate, founded by Kishore Biyani and based in Mumbai. The company is known in Indian retail and fashion sectors, operating supermarket chains Big Bazaar and Food Bazaar, lifestyle stores Brand Factory and Centra ...

, valued at 3.7 crore INR, with merchandise being sold exclusively, pan-India, at Big Bazaar.

Successor

A companion film, ''Hanuman Returns'' (later retitled ''

Return of Hanuman ''Return of Hanuman'' is a 2007 Indian Hindi-language animated action-adventure comedy film directed by Anurag Kashyap. A sequel to ''Hanuman'', it was produced by Shailendra Singh at Percept Picture Company and Toonz Animation, and the mus ...

''), was released on 28 December 2007. The sequel project was helmed by director

Anurag Kashyap Anurag Kashyap (born 10 September 1972) is an Indian filmmaker and actor known for his works in Hindi cinema. He is the recipient of several accolades, including four Filmfare Awards. For his contributions to film, the Government of France a ...

and produced by Shailendra Singh and Percept Pictures. A third film called, Return of Ravan, was announced by Shailendra Singh in 2013, but has yet to be completed.

References

External links

* *
Info at Yahoo Movies UK
{{India Animation Industry 2005 films 2005 animated films Indian animated films 2000s Hindi-language films Indian children's films Hindu mythological films Animated films based on Ramayana Films scored by Tapas Relia Hanuman in popular culture