Mahavatar Narsimha maker Ashwin Kumar: This is not the best animation in the world, but it’s a step towards that direction

Ashwin Kumar's Mahavatar Narsimha explores the tale of the fourth avatar of Lord Vishnu - the half human, half lion incarnation who killed the demon Hiranyakashipu to protect his devotee Prahlada

Ashwin Kumar (left) and a still from Mahavatar Narsimha

If you pay close attention to the end credits of most Hollywood films, the visual effects and animation sections especially, a lot of the names one sees will be Indian. Even though Hollywood studios often outsource chunks of work to studios in India, animation and visual effects in Indian cinema is nowhere near the quality one sees in a major English film.

And that, says filmmaker Ashwin Kumar, who is preparing to release his animated film Mahavatar Narsimha, on July 25, 2025 in Kannada, Telugu, Malayalam, Tamil and Hindi, is because unlike Hollywood studios that drop big money and time on their projects, it is not easy to convince a producer in India to do that. Ashwin, who has spent nearly 5 years on the making of Mahavatar Narsimha says that he lucked out because his wife is producing the film and she believes in his vision.

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Mahavatar Narsimha's Ashwin Kumar: We do not have a skill issue, we have a will issue

“For a country that consumes a lot of Korean and Japanese animation and manga, we do not have an indigenous animation industry. This film and the team is a step in that direction. In India, we do not have a skill issue, it is a will issue. Animation is a tedious and long-term commitment field. To get a producer to have the confidence to commit to a 5-year process is difficult, because they only see it as a business medium,” Ashwin said in an interview with Gulte Pro.

The filmmaker adds that while most people were amazed by the animation and visual effects in Jurassic Park, he says that 30 years hence, India is yet to create something as effective as Spielberg’s film. “We still don’t have that here and the question that should come up is shouldn’t we have that here?” says Ashwin.

“Somebody had to do something about that. And since I am from that field, we mustered up the strength to do that. I cannot claim Mahavatar Narsimha to be the best animation in the world, but it is a step in that direction. We will be making quality upgrades as and when we go through this cinematic universe,” he adds.

Ashwin had a team of about 100 people only to work on the film, which has a 2 hour 11 minute run-time and tells the story of the half-man, half lion avatar of Lord Vishnu.

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