Dyspotian films and Indian filmmakers aren’t the best friends we always wished them to be. There’s a long history of movies that promised a ride to an alternative universe but couldn’t fulfil them, making it a tough genre for directors to crack. So, what makes Kalki 2898 AD worth a try? Let’s figure it out.
When you think of dystopian sagas, the first few movies to occur in your mind have to be the Dune, Mad Max or The Hunger Games series. Most of these have a few common narratives – tales of good vs. evil, the saviour of the universe, and tonnes of mythological references. Director Nag Ashwin has combined all these to tell us the story of Kalki 2898 AD. The movie has heavy references of the Mahabharata mixed with a dystopian science fiction storyline set in the future of the world.
The Plot (Major Spoiler Alert)
Kalki 2898 AD starts with Ashwatthama (played by Amitabh Bachchan), who is believed to be the oldest living person from the Kurukshetra War. In the first five minutes, you will see Ashwatthama get a curse from Lord Krishna to be immortal until Vishnu’s new avatar doesn’t take birth, whom he will have to protect at all costs. Later, the story takes you to Kaashi, shown as the only city still standing; everything else around the world is destroyed.
Food is in short supply as the river Ganges has dried up. Water, food, and air—everything needed to sustain life—are contained within, a colossal pyramidal edifice that is off-limits to the poorer public and is controlled by the Supreme. You can see an Indian Hunger Games happening as the rich are living in a separate capital called the ‘Complex’ and the poor are struggling to meet their needs.
But the capital isn’t all money and riches; there’s a high-scale lab experiment called ‘Project K’, happening by the ‘Supreme’ (played by Kamal Hasan), who believes in a prophecy that the child carried by a special lady (Deepika Padukone’s character, Sumathi) will end his regime. To protect his powers, the Supreme puts a heavy bounty on her head when she runs away during the final experiment. On the other hand, we have Prabhas’ character, Bhairava, who enters the screens with Diljit Dosanjh singing his theme song in the background.
Bhairava is a top hunter who has only one dream: to move to the other side (the Complex). And to make it happen, he needs a big bag of money—approximately one million units. And the news of Sumathi’s bounty gives him hope for it.
That’s how the plot thickens for the viewers because Ashwatthama re-enters to protect Sumathi against all the odds. But is Bhairava just a local hero that he presides over, or does his existence mean something else in Kalki 2898 AD? The movie will slowly answer all these questions for you.
Performances
Amitabh Bachchan is the soul of Kalki 2898 AD; he might be one of the main reasons for you to catch this film. As Ashwatthama, Big B shows the new generation why there won’t be anyone like him on the screen. And not only that but watching him doing those stunts at this age made my back hurt. His performance evokes strong sentimental feelings and brings back memories of his old films. All in all, Mr. Bachchan is the star of the film.
Prabhas, who plays Bhairava, has done a fair job on his part. It’s fun watching his long-haired character with a carefree attitude on screen. Bhairava and Bujji (his robotic car) are the ultimate duo, with all the humour we need in the movie.
On the other hand, Deepika portrays Sumathi’s role with grace and immense dedication. We would love to see more of her in the promised sequels. Kalki 2898 AD’s villain, aka the Supreme, is played by the legendary Kamal Haasan, known as the superstar of Tamil cinema.
Despite having very little on-screen time, he does a great job with facial expressions in the movie. Kalki’s 2898 AD’s final shot promised that Haasan’s character would have significant growth in the movie’s follow-up. You will also catch Disha Patani for ten minutes as Roxie who doesn’t do much to the plot but we will surely see her in the sequel as she is still working in the Complex.
Apart from our leads, Kalki 2898 AD has a bunch of celebrities doing cameos every ten minutes (it’s like the Oprah meme saying everyone gets a cameo) of the movie, starting with Mrunal Thakur, Dulquer Salmaan, SS Rajamouli, Ram Gopal Varma, and Vijay Deverakonda. (I hope I didn’t blink and miss any)
Verdict
Kalki 2898 AD has an approximate budget of 600 crores, which can be seen in its heavy VFX and settings, which are quite top-notch and can be considered as a new benchmark. The place where Kalki 2898 AD falls is in the first half. As there’s a lack of pace in the storyline, it’s quite boring and irritating to catch up with so many unnecessary dialogues and scenes.
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But don’t let this blow your hopes; await the second half of Kalki 2898 AD, even if it’s bland and unclear at first. Once you cross the almost two-hour intermission, the movie progresses and starts to make sense. The storyline eventually becomes entertaining and gripping with machines blowing up, and you will start to comprehend what was going on in the first half. Then, it capitalises on your curiosity by leaving you wondering, ‘What will happen next?’
Kalki 2898 AD is a prominent step towards an Indian dystopian cinematic universe to look forward to in the future. So we would suggest you give this a try. Pro tip: you might want to read the Mahabharata again to understand the references in the film.
