General · EdgepediaOctober 3, 20266 min read

The Legend of Hanuman

The Legend of Hanuman is an Indian 3D animated streaming television series based on the Hindu epic the Ramayana, following the deity Hanuman from a bound, ordinary vaanar (monkey-like being) warrior to a god who becomes the central force against the demon king Ravan. Produced by Graphic India for Disney+ Hotstar (later JioHotstar), it premiered on January 29, 2021 and has run for seven seasons.¹^•²

Key fact	Detail
Format	3D animated series, average runtime 21 minutes, original language Hindi, genres adventure, animation, and fantasy¹
Created by	Sharad Devarajan, Jeevan J. Kang, and Charuvi Agrawal; produced by Graphic India³
Premiere	January 29, 2021, as the first animated Hotstar Special¹^•³
Seasons	Seven seasons: 13, 13, 6, 7, 6, 7, and 8 episodes, from January 2021 to October 2026¹
Viewership	Season 1 drew more than 20 million viewers; Season 5 reached 9.4 million views; Season 6 reached 16.2 million viewers³^•⁴^•⁵
Voice cast	Daman Baggan as Hanuman, Sharad Kelkar as Ravan⁶
Streaming	JioHotstar in India; also carried on Hulu and Disney+ internationally⁷

Spoilers

Premise

The series retells the Ramayana from Hanuman's perspective. Its opening framing describes a world torn by the power-hungry Ravan, against whom stands a humble vaanar awoken to his divinity.¹ Season 1 begins with Hanuman's powers bound since childhood, living as a simple warrior serving King Sugreev, until an encounter with two human princes, Ram and Lakshman, sets him on a new path through Kishkindha and the search for Sita.⁸ Season 2 follows his leap to Lanka, his encounters with Surasa and Simhika, and his delivery of Ram's message to Sita and Ravan.⁸

Later seasons extend beyond the epic's best-known beats. Season 4 sends Ram and Lakshman to Patal Loka, with Hanuman navigating treacherous realms to rescue them; Season 5 centers on Hanuman's Panchmukhi (five-faced) form; Season 6 dramatizes the war in Lanka, with Ravan seeking to break Ram's spirit through deception and strategy; and Season 7, released October 23, 2026, follows a quest for a weapon that can slay an immortal after Ravan becomes invincible.⁸^•⁹

Creator and executive producer Sharad Devarajan, co-founder and CEO of Graphic India, described the show as a fresh take on the myth about "discovering a god within," noting that previous versions had told either stories of a mischievous young Hanuman or of the fully powered god, while animation allowed the vast visual world of mythical beings, demons, forest creatures, spirits, and anthropomorphic clans to be portrayed.¹⁰

Production

The series was created by Sharad Devarajan, Jeevan J. Kang, and Charuvi Agrawal and produced by Graphic India, with Charuvi Design Labs also credited as a production company.³^•¹¹ Devarajan has cited Hayao Miyazaki's Princess Mononoke, a period drama steeped in Japanese folklore, as an inspiration on the show.³

Co-creator Charuvi Agrawal, an animation film director and immersive artist, has described the pipeline as beginning with storyboarding, followed by character design to capture the essence of each persona, then animatics that turn the static storyboard into a dynamic preliminary animation sequence, with attention to preserving the legend's spiritual and cultural integrity.⁶

Sound. The Mumbai studio Canopy handles audio post management, sound design, foley, mixing, and mastering. Its team built a custom sound effects library of character sound profiles, custom weapons, magic, and foley for armies, and each episode is mixed and mastered by chief engineer Drona Acharya in Dolby Atmos, 5.1 Surround, and Stereo, a task complicated by maintaining uniformity across seven separate language versions.¹²

Release and seasons

Season 1 (13 episodes) premiered on January 29, 2021 and Season 2 (13 episodes) followed in August 2021.¹ After a gap, Disney+ Hotstar released Seasons 3 through 5 in 2024: Season 3 (6 episodes) in January, Season 4 (7 episodes) from June 5 to July 11, and Season 5 (6 episodes) from October 25.¹^•⁸ Season 6 (7 episodes) arrived on April 11, 2025, and Season 7 (8 episodes) on October 23, 2026.¹^•⁸

The series streams on JioHotstar in India and is available internationally through Disney+ and Hulu, which lists six seasons totaling 52 episodes in its catalog.⁷^•¹³

Reception and viewership

The series set viewership records for Indian animation. According to the consultancy Ormax Media, Season 1 attracted more than 20 million viewers, and no animated production in India had previously exceeded five million; Season 2 drew an estimated 8.5 million viewers in its first ten days, making it the most-watched title on paid VOD services in India that week.³ A Government of India industry report credits Seasons 3 through 5 with continued growth, with Season 5 amassing 9.4 million views, and describes the show's "cinematic animation with layered storytelling."⁴ Ormax's mid-year 2025 ranking of streaming originals placed Season 6 at 16.2 million viewers among Hindi fiction series.⁵ Canopy, the audio post studio, states the show has been viewed in more than 35 million households through its fifth season.¹²

Critical response has generally praised the craft. A Times of India review of Season 4 called it an "animation extravaganza" that dazzles visually with meticulously crafted characters, while faulting the narrative.¹⁴ An ABP Live review credited Sharad Kelkar's voice performance and the quality animation.¹⁵ A Daily Pioneer review of Season 5 rated it 4.3 out of 5 and noted that the animation quality had improved significantly over previous seasons.¹⁶

Place in Indian animation

Commentators have treated the series as a milestone for locally produced Indian animation. Cartoon Brew reported in 2021 that the most popular show on Disney+ Hotstar in India was this India-produced CG series rather than a Disney, Pixar, or Marvel title, and quoted Devarajan calling the response "an amazing milestone for original Indian animation."³ Industry analysis notes that Indian animation intellectual property leans on history, mythology, and folktales rather than Western superhero or science-fiction styles, with The Legend of Hanuman as a leading example of the mythological-epic genre.⁴ Ormax Media has cited the series' six-season run, with each season achieving strong viewership, as evidence of audience acceptance of the animation format in mythological storytelling.¹⁷

References

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026