Kalki 2898 AD is a curious blend of religion and technology, it is truly an epic tale that is meant for movie lovers who enjoy watching both, mythological tales and science fiction action-thrillers. Making a film on such a large canvas and that too one that is inspired by the Mahabharata can be a tough job but director Nag Ashwin, for over three hours, has constantly managed to surprise you. He has created a cinematic universe that is familiar and futuristic and there is the VFX of the creation of every aspect of these worlds which can be a daunting task.
Nag has also managed to get an impressive or one might say gigantic cast led by superstars Amitabh Bachchan, Kamal Haasan, Prabhas and Deepika Padukone in this visually stunning dystopian drama revolving around a pregnant woman whose unborn child might rescue this godforsaken planet from itself. Prabhas features as Bhairava, a bounty hunter, a rebel and has a magnetic screen presence.
He does justice to his character of a laidback brat and a superhero. However, the biggest show stealer is Amitabh Bachchan who goes into that angry old man mode to play Ashwatthama, the man doomed to immortality and a mighty saviour trying to protect an unborn child. The actor has once again established that he is the iconic superstar of Indian cinema. The action scenes between Bachchan’s Ashwatthama and Prabhas’s Bhairava are some of the finest combat sequences seen in Indian cinema.
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The world of Kalki 2898 AD [a Telugu language sci-fi film and probably the first comprehensive pan-Indian film] is divided into the rich and powerful and the poor and downtrodden. Kalki opens to a dystopian world; Kashi which is considered in Indian mythology to be the first city that humans inhabited is now a poverty-stricken area where women have become infertile and a supreme power that goes by the name of Yaskin [played by Kamal Haasan] has taken control of the world. Production designer Nitin Zihani Choudhary who created the world of Tumbbad infuses the soul of Kashi in this futuristic dying city. At the idea level, we have seen some of these in futuristic films like Star Wars, Dune, Game of Thrones, or Mad Max or even Lord of the Rings but the director’s original imagination of a future utopia is on point.
The jaw-dropping visuals that merge beautifully with the world created in Kalki will remain with me for a very long time but on the downside the story-telling is too flat. Nag’s writing can’t keep pace with so many elements and as a result the narrative becomes disjointed. Also, the transition from one scene to another is not very smooth. Not to forget the dialogues and some of those are quite banal and absurd probably due to a mix of purist and contemporary vocabulary. But then let’s acknowledge that the film is ground-breaking and the director, who has also written the screenplay and dialogues, has created a sub-genre in which Indian mythology meets western science fiction in the most interesting manner.
The performances of every star is superlative. Prabhas fits well into the futuristic dystopia and he keeps getting better with every scene. He also delivers the punch lines really well. Padukone’s character that brings the mother or the maa angle to the film, is brilliant in almost every scene while conveying her helplessness and confusion in this world. But the man who stands out is Bachchan, he is in top form as Ashwatthama. He is so very convincing as the cursed man trying to redeem himself. Kamal Haasan as the evil Supreme Yaskin may have been given a very limited screen time but just in a matter of moments he delivers evil remarkably well. We can sense his strong presence and he makes us anxious about what he has planned next.
Read: The Pre-release event of Kalki 2898 AD movie in Mumbai.
Besides the four superstars there is also Shobhana, Sashwat Chatterjee, Disha Patani and there are several cameos of actors and directors like S S Rajamouli, Dulquer Salmaan, Ram Gopal Varma, Vijay Deverakonda, Mrunal Thakur …Appearance of some of these famous celebrities bring in an element of comedy in this epic saga but this could have been avoided as it appears a bit gimmicky. The second half of the film with its rousing climax and hero-villain confrontations is big time paisa vasool while the first half is a bit of a snooze fest. Yet, I would say Kalki 2898 AD is one of those rare Indian films that you may have to watch one more time to catch some of its details. Nag’s ambition and imagination definitely need to be lauded.
