The Marathi–language Dashavatar was a big hit, running for weeks after its theatrical release on September 12. It’s not hard to guess why Subodh Khanolkar’s film resonated with audiences. Dashavatar is among the few movies to use its location in the Konkan not just to serve as a pretty backdrop but also to flag threats to the region’s fragile ecology.

The film is led by acting legend Dilip Prabhavalkar, who is remarkably spry and reliably mischievous at 81. Prabhavalkar plays Babuli Mestri, a veteran practitioner of the Dashavatar performance tradition in a village in the Konkan. Babuli has been enacting the various avatars of the god Vishnu for so long that no performance is complete without his presence.

But Babuli is getting on. His eyesight is failing him. Babulal’s son Madhav (Siddharth Menon) is unable to keep Babulal from the stage. Madhav, who is unemployed and desperately wants to marry his girlfriend Vandana (Priyadarshini Indalkar), makes a deal with his father. If Madhav gets a job, Babuli will have to stop performing.

That job is with a mining company led by Sarmalkar (Vijay Kenkre) and his son Monty (Abhinay Berde). Madhav’s deal with the devil has severe consequences. Babuli put on the war paint once again, leading a battle whose weapons involve determination, luck and divine intervention.

The 152-minute film is available on ZEE5. The influence of Rishab Shetty’s Kantara (2022) on Dashavatar is unmistakable, from the potential environmental damage to a sacred forest to the otherworldly phenomena that come to Babuli’s aid.

This movie’s version of the divine protector Panjurli is a computer-generated leopard. Subodh Khanolkar relocates Kantara’s themes to the Konkan, whose emerald groves and thick forest cover might soon be a thing of the past. Khanolkar’s screenplay captures the lilt of the Marathi spoken in these parts, in which even curses and threats sound sweet to the ear.

Massive suspension of disbelief is demanded – and granted – while following Babuli’s campaign for justice. Few actors other than Dilip Prabhavalkar could have carried off the mix of slyness and ferocity that Babuli command, or the free pass gives to him as he carries out actions that would have been impossible for a man of his vintage.

Prabhavalkar is supported by a fine cast of actors. Siddharth Menon has some lovely scenes with Prabhavalkar. The father-son equation is charming well as moving, setting the stage for Babuli’s subsequent actions. Priyadarshini Indalkar is solid too as Madhav’s lover. Mahesh Manjrekar kick-starts the slow-paced film, playing with aplomb the police inspector Michael.

The movie encourages viewers to see Maharashtra’s section of the Konkan with new eyes – not as a stand-in for Goa or Kerala, but a place whose culture is inextricably tied to nature. Dashavatar also enjoins viewers to believe – in the ability of mortals to channelise the power of gods, in the capacity for change, and in miracles.

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