A GODLY UNIVERSE

Hindu divinity is becoming ripe fare for Bollywood studios to build whole worlds out of, helped along by a broader religio-cultural awareness

- By SUHANI SINGH

A COUPLE OF MONTHS AGO, A LITTLE-KNOWN MOVIE SPAWNED FOOTAGE OF AUDIENCES WEEPING IN THE THEATRE, folding their hands and overwhelmed by an action spectacle so good that walking out they felt it was a worthy rival of Hollywood superhero movies. The story was about gods and demons, heretics and devotees, tapping into the audience's beliefs about what the world needs at a time of civilisational collapse—saviours, messiahs, heroes. Mahavatar Narsimha was the name of the animated movie, and tells the story about the half-lion, half-man incarnation of Vishnu who takes birth to defeat a demon who has been tormenting the god's devotees. The film didn't begin with a bang, but within a week it shot to the top of the box office and, in its Hindi dub, made more than Rs 170 crore domestically.

This is no accident, of course. We are living in an age of Hinduism revivified in popular culture, sometimes for political gains, sometimes for more innocent reasons. Filmmakers were quick to take note. What has emerged is a parade of cinematic ventures based on Hindu mythology, Mahavatar Narsimha being only the latest along that bejewelled pipeline. Directed by debutant Ashvin Kumar on a modest Rs 40 crore budget, inclusive of marketing costs and with no big names in the voice cast, it has already led to the announcement of a Mahavatar Cinematic Universe—six more films about the 10 avatars of Vishnu billed to “shake the soul of Bharat”. Each is to be released at two-year intervals, and Kumar has already planned a tie-in film, about Ardhanareeshwar, a godly hybrid of Shiva and Parvati. Prasanth Varma, director of last year's Hanu-Man, too, has announced a cinematic universe, his next title based on Mahakali. Producer Vijay Subramaniam is releasing an AI-made micro-drama on Mahabharata this month and a feature on Hanuman in April.