‘Mahavatar Narsimha’ opens with ₹2.29 crore, sets stage for animated mythology franchise

Ashwin Kumar’s mythological animated film Mahavatar Narsimha opened to a strong start at the box office on Friday, collecting ₹2.29 crore across India. The film, presented by Hombale Films and produced by Kleem Productions, combines traditional storytelling with modern animation to depict the tale of Lord Vishnu’s Narasimha avatar.

The Hindi version led day one collections, contributing ₹1.51 crore, followed by regional versions in Telugu (₹38 lakh), Kannada (₹7 lakh), Malayalam (₹3 lakh), and Tamil (₹2 lakh).

The story centres around Prahlad Maharaj, the young devotee whose unwavering faith prompts Lord Vishnu to manifest as Narasimha — half-man, half-lion — to destroy the demon king Hiranyakashyap. The screenplay was written by Jayapurna Das and Rudra Pratap Ghosh, and has been praised for its fidelity.

The film features a score by Sam CS and is edited by the team at Kleem Productions. It is currently screening in five Indian languages, with English subtitles available for international audiences. Director Ashwin Kumar confirmed plans to release the film in multiple foreign languages including Korean, Japanese, Spanish, English, and Russian.

Known for films likeKGF, Kantara, andSalaar, Hombale Films is backing this as the launch of a larger franchise — the Mahavatar Cinematic Universe. The franchise is set to span seven films over 12 years, concluding with Mahavatar Kalki Part 2 in 2037.