"Vijay Sethupathi Or Rana Daggubati Would Make The Perfect Hiranyakashipu": Mahavatar Narsimha Director To NDTV
Ashwin Kumar's mythological animated film Mahavatar Narsimha saw a massive surge in footfall over the Raksha Bandhan weekend, pushing its India collections past Rs 150 crore. At the global box office, the film is now racing towards the Rs 200 crore mark.
In an exclusive conversation with NDTV, Kumar said he always envisioned Mahavatar Narsimha as an animated spectacle. "Narsimha would always be digitally animated because nobody can play him. It's impossible to have that kind of a scale, character, power, weight for a real-life actor. It would be unwise for a real-life actor," he explains.
But if the role of Hiranyakashyap ever had to be cast, he says it would go to "Vijay Sethupathi or somebody of that stature or a Rana Daggubati. That kind of trope architectural figure."
Although celebrity voices are often considered a way to widen an animation film's appeal, Kumar deliberately stayed away from that choice. He points out that "From history we know that we have a tendency of projecting the actor on God and God on actor. It can go bad either way, so I didn't want that."
For him, the priority was clear, "I want people to worship the lord as he is supposed to be worshipped. Worship the bhakt as he is supposed to be worshipped. Understand dharma the way it supposed to be without getting into the troping of googling who played this and who played that because the story matters, the characters matter, the learning's matter. So that is paramount, rest all follows so that was the whole idea."
The film's performance at the box office has been nothing short of phenomenal. Trade analyst Taran Adarsh shared on X the latest box office updated on Mahavatar Narsimha. He wrote that the Hindi version recorded a remarkable 219.15% growth on its third Saturday which was Raksha Bandhan. "It crossed the Rs 100 crore mark on Day 16 - a phenomenal feat for a film that opened at Rs 1.46 crore on day 1. The smashing run of Mahavatar Narsimha is an eye-opener for those who doubted the business potential of animation films - especially those made locally."
With its record-breaking run, the film has cemented its place as a game-changer for homegrown animated cinema.
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