After 89 years of filmmaking in Assam, we can finally take pride in having a decent superhero movie that doesn’t make you cringe in your seat—thanks to Himanshu Prasad Das for making Joy Hanu Man in 2024. Before Joy Hanu Man, there have been attempts to make superhero films in the region but those efforts have resulted in very poorly made productions that are better left forgotten.
And now, after Joy Hanu Man, any memory of watching Advitya (2023) by Arindam Sharma can successfully be removed.
While the title Joy Hanu Man might suggest a mythological connection, the film, written jointly by Himanshu Prasad Das, Adhiraj Kashyap, and Santanu Rowmuria, adopts a realistic tone that portrays the city as a real, crime-infested environment.
This approach makes the story feel more grounded and relatable to local contexts. There might also be an immediate recall value to Prasanth Varma’s Hanu Man (2024), but Himanshu Prasad Das’s film does not include any elements of fantasy or larger-than-life scenarios.
The protagonist in this film is a college-going boy, Joy Prakash Das. He isn’t a ‘chosen one’ with a predetermined destiny or a saviour, nor does he miraculously gain superhuman powers. Instead, the reference to Hanuman comes from a role he frequently plays in his college hostel drama competitions.
As for his superhero costume, it’s simply the outfit he wears for his performance in the play.
While not a character-driven approach, Himanshu Prasad Das’ film follows a conflict-driven approach where Joy has to break a network of evil politicians-gangsters to seek justice for his friend, who was wrongfully murdered in connection with a rape case. That, Joy Hanu Man is a vigilante movie which plays with the codes of superhero films and is cut from the same cloth as Vikramaditya Motwane’s Bhavesh Joshi Superhero (2018). Joy Hanu Man has many thematic, situational and artistic similarities with Bhavesh Joshi’s Superhero.
To state it in simple and broad terms, India is so rotten, that our superheroes have to fight off evil politicians, and a corrupt system before taking on supervillains. In this fight against injustice, Joy is aided by his hostel senior, JK Da, who operates both as an Alfred to Joy’s Batman and also as Bucky Barnes to his Captain America.
Grounded in the narrative of a vigilante movie, Joy Hanu Man uses a personal tragedy to tackle broader themes of injustice and corruption in the system. The representation of the realistic urban setting also benefits from its exploration of relevant social issues that are very valid under the current political climate of the region.
The drive to convey meaningful social messages has been a fundamental aspect of all Himanshu Prasad Das’ films and Joy Hanu Man succeeds in that attempt as it tries to reflect on the other side of extra judicial killings and police encounters.
Due to various budget constraints and limitations in both creative and technical fronts, the filmmaking scenario is Assam is not yet prepared to produce a superhero film that can compete technically with those from Bollywood or Hollywood. Therefore, the decision by the filmmakers to portray the protagonist as an ordinary individual without any extraordinary superpowers while also avoiding the use of advanced technology is a prudent choice that enhances the film’s realism.
That Joy or his alter ego – Hanu Man – can fight ten people together is because of his skills and innate strength which differentiates him from the rest. Given the absence of fantastical elements, such as futuristic worlds, supernatural alien threats, or mad scientists and villains, and instead focusing on issues like corrupt law enforcement and politicians, the special effects used in the film are respectable and appropriate enough for its scale.
Himanshu Prasad Das is a wise filmmaker who is fully aware of the current political atmosphere and the nuances of his world as he tries to bring in a critical energy to his films but his vision with Joy Hanu Man lacks character depth and emotional resonance. This is because the film follows a conflict-driven approach, where the focus is on external tension and challenges to propel the story forward and not much on the internal development of characters.
Certain scenes work at an emotional level too, such as – how the death of an innocent character, Jitu, serves as the inciting incident. It is effective in building a sense of anger and helplessness among the audience. Nabajyoti Nath as Jitu can reflect the innocence and emotional intensity of the scene here.
The feelings of indignation are also carried over to a subsequent scene in which the desperate mother of Jitu attempts to persuade the police against the wrongdoing that her son has experienced. But apart from that, the rest of the situations in the film aren’t original enough to be compelling or insightful. Thanks to the makers, they didn’t waste much time on the love story.
Moreover, the issues that the movie explores – rapes, encounters and extra-judicial killings – are real but the protagonist’s journey doesn’t feel personal because his individual stakes never go higher than that.
This is because the film doesn’t focus much on character explorations, inter-character dynamics and the thematic complexities that arise from the implications of vigilantism.
There is a scene in the first half of the movie where Joy is travelling by a city bus and he tries to catch a pickpocket. However, the pickpocket cleverly frames Joy instead. This could have served as an interesting foreshadowing element for a situation later in the film, where the system frames Hanu Man as the one responsible for crime and corruption in the city.
But no worries, as Joy Hanu Man ends, Himanshu Prasad Das throws in the promise of a sequel and it can be hoped that these issues are a part of the thematic concerns of the sequel.
The need for a formidable antagonist, whose motivations and philosophy can challenge Hanu Man in a meaningful way, was also felt. Bibhuti Bhushan Hazarika plays Bikash Dutta, a villain, who in his stereotypically written codes appears intimidating but folds his hands at the first sign of trouble.
A person who is so notorious and so feared in Assam that he gets randomly picked up from his hideout by the police after his ally becomes the Chief Minister of the state. Only later does he realize that with his ally in power, he is now a target to eliminate any evidence of their past wrongdoing together. Bikash Dutta as a villain is foolish and is just not threatening enough.
But yes, the character of Bikash Dutta is just a cog in the wheel, and the system itself is the real villain in the film. Even then the movie doesn’t present us with any new insight about the system mechanisms we don’t already know.
As mentioned earlier, Joy Hanu Man shares several similarities with Motwane’s Bhavesh Joshi Superhero, which explored these themes and situations way back in 2018. The socio-political commentary in Joy Hanu Man will therefore resonate more with audiences who aren’t familiar with many vigilante justice films.
Moreover, Hanu Man’s journey is not that of an internal one like Batman Begins (2005), which is triggered by a philosophical journey to the within of the character. But Hanu Man is shaped in an immediate nature by his external environment. We don’t grow up with the character because the character is already grown by the time the inciting incident takes place.
And it is refreshing to see Amrita Gogoi back as a firebrand journalist after her breakout role, also as a journalist, in Bani Das’ Ahetuk (2015) which is enough to forget all the mediocre roles she did in a few Chandra Mudoi and Mani Sinha films. But there was scope to develop that role further.
If nothing else then at least her character could have been an agent of the system who is posing as a journalist while secretly working for the higher-ups. A little more ‘dramatic’ approach with a few twists and turns in between would have made this film even better.
Now the movie is very simple and linear and operates like a seventh-standard moral science class which gives out valuable lessons like – only a rough sea can create a skilled sailor. While Joy/Hanu Man and JK Da are there to preach, the villains are there to be bad. However, acknowledgement is a must for the film’s music and cinematography, which deserve praise.
Also, appreciation for Siddharth Boro for his dedication in pulling off the role of Hanu Man which in its theatrical costume could have otherwise looked like an actor lost from its Ramleela troupe. Joy Kashyap as JK Da provides the necessary support for complementing the character of Hanu Man. In short, Joy Hanu Man doesn’t score much on being at the original and ambitious front, but somehow it makes up for fair entertainment.
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