Bhupender Thakur

Mahavatar Narsimha: My Take Yesterday, I went to watch Mahavatar Narsimha with my kids and wife. This movie will always be special for me as it was my kids’ first big-screen experience, and coincidentally, it was Friendship Day, which I celebrated with my family. But is the movie worth the hype? There are two schools of thought. ________________________________________ No…Why I felt underwhelmed • I’m an 80s kid, raised on the legends of Vishnu Ji and his avatars. grew up watching Ramanand Sagar’s Ramayana and BR Chopra’s Mahabharata, performing Satyanarayan Katha, attending Jagrans etc • For someone already deep-rooted in Sanatan Dharma, this movie doesn’t offer anything new…no scriptural depth, no Vedic references, no spiritual awakening. • It’s originally a Kannada film dubbed in Hindi, and some dialogues feel very mumbaiyaa. hearing Hiranyakashipu say, “ab tera khel khatam” felt out of place. • Action sequences are styled like South Indian hero fight scenes, making Narsimha and Varaha fight like Prabhas or Allu Arjun rather than with divine grace. • And yes, a two hour movie with an interval just to push overpriced popcorn and nachos feels unnecessary. let it be a one shot spiritual experience. ________________________________________ Yes…Why it still matters • Our kids today idolize Marvel and Disney characters…Avengers, Spider-Man, Hulk, Thor, Captain America. These franchises earn billions through movies, merchandise and media. • Presenting our own divine legends in an equally appealing, creative way can plant seeds of curiosity and reverence of our gods in kids. • Mahavatar Narsimha may not be perfect, but it’s a step in the right direction…a way to get kids’ attention away from just superheroes and towards our own epics. • It’s refreshing to see a spiritual story being brought to mainstream theatres in an era dominated by superhero fiction. ________________________________________ Verdict For me, the experience was priceless because of my kids, but as cinema or sanatani, it’s a mixed bag. A good start, but it has a long way to go before it matches the emotional and spiritual depth we grew up with. Instead of making it fully animated, they could fix the key characters like Lord Shiva, Vishnu, Laxmi, Parvati and Brahma in a more realistic form, especially since these characters will remain across the upcoming 6/7 parts. Looking forward to Mahavtar Parshurama