Oscars 2025: Kantara Chapter 1, Mahavatar Narasimha Earn General Entry Spots
The films, which dominated the box office and earned widespread critical praise, are now eligible for consideration across major Oscar categories.
Hombale Films, the production house that has delivered two blockbuster films in 2025, viz. Mahavatar Narasimha and Kantara: Chapter 1 has hit the jackpot with both the movies being submitted for the Oscars in the General Entry List on Friday.
The films, which dominated the box office and earned widespread critical praise, are now eligible for consideration across major Oscar categories, including Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, Best Producer, Best Original Screenplay, Best Production Design, and Best Cinematography, subject to evaluation by the Academy.
Kantara: Chapter 1, directed by Rishab Shetty and produced by Vijay Kiragandur, and Mahavatar Narasimha, directed by Ashwin Kumar and presented by Hombale Films, were lauded for their cultural authenticity, technical brilliance, and compelling storytelling.
Notably, out of five Indian films featured on this year’s Oscar General Entry List, two belong to Hombale Films.
About Kantara Chapter 1
A prequel to Shetty's 2022 hit Kantara, the Kannada movie, produced under the banner Hombale Films, released in theatres on Oct 2, 2025. The film has received overwhelming response from audiences and critics alike for its powerful storytelling, performances and grand visual scale.
Set in pre-colonial Karnataka during the reign of the Kadambas from Banavasi, Kantara: Chapter 1 depicts the conflict between the tribals of the Kantara forest and a tyrannical king. The film stars Shetty, Sapthami Gowda, Gulshan Devaiah, Rukmini Vasanth, Jayaram, P D Satish Chandra and Prakash Thuminad.
Written, directed and headlined by Shetty, the film is produced by Vijay Kiragandur under Hombale Films. Cinematography is by Arvind S Kashyap, while music is composed by B Ajaneesh Loknath — both of whom also worked on the original Kantara.
About Mahavatar Narsimha
Mahavatar Narsimha, released on July 25 and has created history by becoming the first ever animated Hindi film to collect over Rs 100 at the box office. Produced by Shilpaa Dhawan, Kushal Desai, and Chaitanya Desai under the production banner Kleem Productions, the film is presented by Hombale Films.
The film was released in theatres worldwide in 2D and 3D formats in five languages: Hindi, Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, and Malayalam.
It is a part of the seven-part animated series called the 'Mahavatar Cinematic Universe'. The universe will span over a decade and chronicle the ten divine avatars of Lord Vishnu.
The upcoming installments include Mahavatar Parshuram, which is slated to release in 2027, Mahavatar Raghunandan in 2029, Mahavatar Dwarkadhish in 2031, and Mahavatar Gokulananda in 2033. Mahavatar Kalki Part 1 will come out in 2035, with Mahavatar Kalki Part 2 releasing in 2037.
