Animated Epic ‘Mahavatar Narsimha’ Becomes India’s Highest-Grossing Animated Film In Less Than Two Weeks

Ashwin Kumar’s Mahavatar Narsimha is rapidly becoming a landmark moment for Indian animated cinema, grossing INR105 crore ($12 million) worldwide in less than two weeks, an unheard-of feat for a homegrown animated feature and surpassing the best of any major international release.

The mythological action epic, which tells the story of the fierce half-lion avatar of Lord Vishnu, started modestly with a 1.35 crore ($162,000) opening in Hindi but has since built powerful momentum through strong word-of-mouth and multi-language appeal. On Day 10 alone, the Hindi version surged to 18 crore ($2.16 million), its highest single-day total yet, pushing its cumulative Hindi earnings to 67.45 crore ($8.1 million).

A multi-language release strategy has proved vital for the film. Its Telugu version added 20.37 crore ($2.45 million), while Kannada, Tamil, and Malayalam versions brought in 2.33 crore ($280,000), 1.06 crore ($127,000), and 24 lakh ($29,000), respectively. Domestic net collections now total 83 crore ($9.95 million), with the film crossing 91.45 crore ($11 million) in total.

The film is already India’s highest-grossing animated feature, surpassing international blockbusters like Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (56.30 crore), The Incredibles 2 (54.50 crore), and Frozen 2 (54.00 crore).

Backed by Kleem Productions and Hombale Films, Mahavatar Narsimha is the inaugural chapter in an ambitious animated franchise exploring the ten avatars of Lord Vishnu. Sequels, including Mahavatar Parshuram and Mahavatar Kalki, are already in development, with releases planned over the next several years. Blending mythology, history, and high-end visuals is a formula that has already worked wonders in other markets – China’s Ne Zha II being the most obvious recent example – and it’s easy to imagine the same strategy paying off elsewhere.

While Indian animation has often been confined to service work, with original animation earmarked only for children’s fare or television formats, Mahavatar Narsimha taps into deeper cultural roots, invoking divine justice and spiritual themes in a cinematic package that resonates across generations.

With no signs of slowing down, Mahavatar Narsimha is redefining what’s commercially possible for Indian animation, not only at home but potentially in diaspora markets as well. Whether it’s a one-off success or the start of something bigger, the film has already achieved something rare: making the local box office take mature, original Indian animation seriously.