The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences are set to announce the nomination list for the Oscars 2026 on January 23, 2026. While Homebound is India’s official submission to the 98th Academy Awards, there have been many other films which have been submitted independently. One of those films, Subodh Khanolkar directorial Dashavatar, starring Dilip Prabhavalkar, made it to the Oscar 2026 contention list. It became the first Marathi film to achieve this incredible feat. For those who don’t know, the film was declared a superhit as it earned Rs 24.18 crore at the box office. It had reportedly been made on a budget of Rs 5 crore.
What is the Oscars Contention List?
The Oscars contention list usually refers to the initial eligibility stage of the Academy Awards. During this stage, filmmaker can submit their films for consideration across various categories, while meeting the criteria set by the Academy. The process includes fulfilling eligibility requirements, paying necessary fees, and formally submitting the movie so that the Academy members can review it for potential nomination.
It is to be noted that the movies which are submitted for contention shouldn’t be the same as the country’s official Oscars entry. Reportedly, the makers of Dashavatar, Ocean Film Company, submitted their film independently after assessing its eligibility under the Academy’s general categories.
Dashavatar’s Plot:
With a runtime of 152.49 minutes, the movie tells a story of Babuli Mestri (Prabhavalkar), an ageing Dashavatar performer, who lives in a village in Maharashtra’s Konkan region, with his son Madhav Mestri (Siddharth Menon). Despite his ageing self and night blindness, he continues to perform his iconic characters, reincarnations of Lord Vishnu, from great mythological tales, much to his doctor and son’s chagrin. He promises his son that he will stop being a part of the play once the latter gets a job, which will provide him a secure future.
As a devotee of the god that protects the village and its surrounding jungles and mountains, he trudges up the mountains to worship ‘The Protector.’ Madhav takes up a job in the mining field, despite Babuli’s warnings and ends up losing his life when he discovers that the higher officials want to blow up the place ‘The Protector’ resides in the mountains, so that they can extract cobalt. And thus begins Babuli’s revenge on the accomplices as he kills the murderers of his son, one by one, just like Lord Vishnu’s avatars killed Asuras.
Why You Should Watch Dashavatara?
If you are a fan of movies like the Kantara franchise, you might enjoy what the Mahesh Manjrekar co-starrer has to offer. Despite it feeling a bit dragged at places, the story is like a commentary on how the lesser privileged often fall prey to the corrupt system, something that happens quite often in real life.
It is quite similar to Kantara in the sense that the village is protected by a deity, who wants to maintain peace and protect the village residents. Just like Rishab Shetty’s character becomes takes on the role of a saviour and a protector of his village from the bad guy, Prabhavalkar too becomes ‘The Protector,’ preventing further innocent deaths and a hope for other village folks to rise up against the ones who want to destroy the jungles and the mountains surrounding their village.
Having been made on a modest budget, the makers of the movie rely on make-up, prosthetics and actual costumes used by theatre artists rather than VFX and CGI.
Headlining such a project at the age of 81, the veteran actor and filmmaker has done a commendable job with his character. As you watched the film, you start to understand that no one apart from Prabhaval could’ve essayed the role of Babuli so fabulously.
Directed by Subodh Khanolkar and produced by Ocean Film Company, Dashavatar stars an ensemble cast of Dilip Prabhavalkar, Priyadarshini Indalkar, Siddharth Menon, Abhinay Berde, Mahesh Manjrekar, Bharat Jadhav, and Lokesh Mittal, among many others. It was released on the big screens on September 12, 2025.
