Mahavtar Narsimha became a surprising success in 2025 and received immense praise from the audience. It also revived the animation industry in India and is now set to compete for the Oscars 2026. The movie is now eligible to be nominated in the Best Animated Feature Film category.
The official statement by the Academy reads, “Thirty-five features are eligible for consideration in the Animated Feature Film category for the 98th Academy Awards. Some of the films have not yet had their required qualifying release and must fulfill that requirement and comply with all the category’s other qualifying rules to advance in the voting process.”
“To determine the five nominees, members of the Animation Branch are automatically eligible to vote in the category. Academy members outside of the Animation Branch are invited to opt in to participate and must meet a minimum viewing requirement to be eligible to vote in the category. Films submitted in the Animated Feature Film category may also qualify for Academy Awards in other categories, including Best Picture. Animated features that have been submitted in the International Feature Film category as their country’s official selection are also eligible in the category,” the statement added.
Other movies in the list are: Arco, Elio, Zootopia 2, Little Amélie or the Character of Rain, In Your Dreams, Kpop Demon Hunters, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle and Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc. Now.
Aditya Raj Sharma has lent his voice to Hiranyakashipu, whereas Haripriya Matta has been cast as Prahlad and Harjeet Walia as Lord Narsimha. The voice cast also includes Sanket Jaiswal, Priyanka Bhandari, Vasundhra Bose, Sanchit Wartak, Saanwari Yagnik, Dinesh Varma, Uplaksh Kochhar, Akshay Joshi, Dixoan Shah, Shahid Zafar, Rakesh Soni, Ayushi Anand and Anshul Sharma.
The plot focuses on demon Hiranyakashyap, who declares himself a god, but his son Prahlad remains devoted to Lord Vishnu. To protect Prahlad and defeat Hiranyakashyap, Lord Vishnu manifests as Narsimha. ‘Mahavatar Narsimha’ is produced by Kleem Productions and presented by Hombale Films, which is the production house behind major Kannada hits like ‘KGF Chapter 1’, ‘KGF Chapter 2’, ‘Salaar’ and ‘Kantara’.
The makers have planned the Mahavatar Cinematic Universe, which will feature different films based on the ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu. The movie is directed by Ashwin Kumar and written by Jayapurna Das. The soundtrack and background score were composed by Sam C. S., with Ajay Verma and Ashwin Kumar serving as the editors.
Also Read: Mahavatar Narasimha: Kannada Cinema’s Proud Moment Of Animation
