Dashavatar follows an ageing performer whose fight to remain onstage becomes bound up with his family and a mining conflict in the Konkan. It is a Marathi feature, not a documentary; its appeal for documentary-minded viewers lies in how it connects a regional performance tradition to questions of place, faith and environmental pressure.
What is Dashavatar about?
Directed by Subodh Khanolkar, the film centers on Babuli Mestri, a veteran performer of the Konkan’s Dashavatar tradition. As his eyesight fails, Babuli resists giving up the stage. His son Madhav wants stable work and hopes to marry Vandana, and the two strike a bargain: if Madhav gets a job, Babuli will stop performing.
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Madhav’s employer is a mining company run by Sarmalkar and his son Monty. The bargain brings family hopes into conflict with the company’s interests. Scroll’s review says the consequences are severe and that Babuli returns to fight for his village. Read Scroll’s review.
Why the Konkan setting matters
In Scroll’s account, the landscape is more than a scenic backdrop. The film ties the Konkan and a sacred forest to the ecological stakes of the village conflict. That gives the regional setting a role in the story: the place Babuli is defending is also part of the film’s cultural and spiritual world.
#1 Best Overall
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- English Subtitles
Scroll compares the film’s environmental threat, supernatural intervention and divine-protector figure with Kantara, calling the influence unmistakable. That is the reviewer’s interpretation of thematic echoes, not evidence that Dashavatar is a remake, adaptation or officially connected to Kantara.
How performance and family shape the conflict
Babuli’s struggle is not simply whether to retire. His performance is central to his identity, while Madhav’s job and marriage hopes reflect practical pressures on the next generation. The bargain makes those competing needs personal before the mining dispute draws the family into a wider fight over the village.
Dilip Prabhavalkar plays Babuli. Scroll also discusses performances by Siddharth Menon, Priyadarshini Indalkar, Vijay Kenkre, Abhinay Berde and Mahesh Manjrekar. ZEE5’s listing names Prabhavalkar, Manjrekar, Indalkar, Bharat Jadhav and Berde among the cast. See ZEE5’s title listing.
Where to watch Dashavatar
ZEE5 lists the theatrical release date as 12 September 2025 and says streaming on its service began on 14 November 2025. Check the listing for your location: catalogue availability and subscription requirements can vary or change, and the listing does not establish a universal price.
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Rank #3
ZEE5 gives two different runtimes on the same title page: 2h 31m in the title details and 155 minutes (2h 35m) in the release information. The listing does not resolve the discrepancy, so neither figure should be treated as definitive.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Is it a good pick for documentary-minded viewers?
Dashavatar is a dramatic feature, but it may interest viewers drawn to films that place local traditions and environmental conflict at the center of a story. Scroll’s Kantara comparison offers a useful way to think about its themes: consider how each film uses regional setting, environmental danger, supernatural protection and performance or ritual. The comparison is a critical lens, not a claim that the films are equivalent.
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