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.

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