The film begins in the Satyayuga, where the sage Kashyapa and his wife Diti conceive two children at an inauspicious time. These children grow up to become the powerful demons Hiranyaksha and Hiranyakashipu, who threaten the balance of the cosmos. Hiranyaksha abducts Bhudevi (the Earth) and imprisons her beneath the cosmic ocean. To restore balance, Vishnu takes the form of Varaha, a divine boar, defeats Hiranyaksha and brings the Earth back.
Enraged by his brother’s death, Hiranyakashipu performs severe penance and receives a boon from Brahma that makes him seemingly invincible — he cannot be killed by man or beast, inside or outside, day or night, by weapons or bare hands. With this power he declares himself God and persecutes anyone who worships Vishnu.
His son Prahlad, however, is a staunch devotee of Vishnu from before his birth, having been influenced by the sage Narada. Despite his father’s efforts to change him and the tortures he is subjected to, Prahlad remains unshaken in his devotion.
Finally, Hiranyakashipu challenges Prahlad and demands to know if Vishnu is present everywhere, even in a nearby pillar. When Prahlad affirms this, Hiranyakashipu strikes the pillar. From it emerges Vishnu in the fierce form of Narsimha, half-man and half-lion. In a climactic battle, Narsimha slays Hiranyakashipu at twilight (neither day nor night), on a palace threshold (neither indoors nor outdoors), on his lap (neither earth nor sky), using his claws (neither weapon nor bare hands) — fulfilling the conditions of the boon.
Even after the slaying, Narsimha’s rage is unstoppable until Prahlad’s devotion calms him. The film closes with Narsimha blessing Prahlad and restoring cosmic order, symbolizing the ultimate triumph of devotion and righteousness over arrogance and tyranny.