Vyjayanthi Movies’ Kalki 2898 AD (dubbed from the Telugu film of the same name; UA) is a futuristic film set in year 2898 AD. It starts from the era of Mahabharat and is mostly set in 2898.
Ashwatthama (Amitabh Bachchan) is immortal because of a curse. His only chance of dying is if he saves the tenth avatar of Vishnu who will take birth to protect mankind. It is now 2898. Ashwatthama is older than one can imagine. Mother Earth is parched. Mankind is suffering. Besides water, there’s also an acute shortage of oxygen. The city of Kasi is the only inhabitable place. Supreme Yaskin (Kamal Haasan) has built a Complex in which he makes fertile women (hunted by his men) pregnant in a laboratory but doesn’t let them deliver the babies. Instead, he uses the serum from their wombs to prolong his life while killing the pregnant women after 120 days of their pregnancy. SUM-80 alias Sumati (Deepika Padukone) is one such pregnant woman but she escapes before she is killed.
Ashwatthama realises that Sumati is the lady who will give birth to the tenth avatar of Vishnu, whom he must save at any cost as otherwise, he would have to wait for another 6,000 years to stop being immortal. There is Bhairava (Prabhas) who is a bounty hunter and who yearns to be inside Supreme Yaskin’s Complex. He sees Sumati’s escape as his golden chance to enter the Complex. Since he has super-powers, he decides to catch Sumati and take her back to the Complex so that he gains entry inside.
So now, Ashwatthama must protect Sumati and her unborn child — not only from the people of the Complex who have come in search of her but also from Bhairava who wants to take her away to the Complex.
Nag Ashwin has written an excellent story which mixes mythology/history with science fiction. His story is so interesting that the audience gets almost mesmerised. The screenplay (by Nag Ashwin, with additional screenplay by Rutham Samar) is brilliant. There are some dull scenes in the initial portion, but they probably could not be avoided because there are many characters and different worlds and time periods. However, the drama in the last two hours moves at jet speed, giving the viewers not even a moment to think. The first half is a bit confusing if only because several questions, which crop up in the minds of the viewers, are not answered by the writers. But all the questions are duly addressed post-interval, which is also why the audience find it mesmerising. The action sequences between Ashwatthama and Bhairava are extraordinary. The sequences of Sumati’s escape from the Complex right till she reaches Ashwatthama and Mariam (Shobana) are outstanding. There’s a scene in which Ashwatthama and Bhairava save Sumati from falling to her death — the sheer visual of that scene makes the viewers’ hearts dance with joy. The entire climax is out-of-the-world. In all, there are a number of scenes in which the viewers would clap in delight. In the other scenes, the viewers watch in pin-drop silence as the drama unfolds. Dialogues, penned by Riya Mukherjee and Manoj Rahul, are wonderful.
Amitabh Bachchan is remarkable in the role of Ashwatthama. He does a marvellous job and acts with aplomb. Even his action scenes are outstanding. His get-up is fantastic. Prabhas plays to the gallery. He looks super-handsome and entertains in light scenes while breathing fire in action scenes. The revelation of the suspense about Bhairava, in the climax, will bring the house down with applause. Deepika Padukone delivers a dignified performance as Sumati. She looks beautiful and excels in whatever she does. Kamal Haasan is first-rate as Supreme Yaskin. His get-up is so different that viewers may not recognise him till the last scene in which he looks his usual self. Disha Patani makes her presence felt in a brief role as Roxie. Brahmanandam is entertaining as Rajan. Saswata Chatterjee shines as Manas. It’s a delight to watch him. Anil George leaves a fine mark as Bani. Rajendra Prasad is very good as Rumi. Shobana is lovely as Mariam. Pasupathy has his moments as Veeran. Anna Ben (as Kyra) and Ayaz Pasha (as Ajju) are endearing as the tough duo. Vijay Deverekonda (in a special appearance as Arjun), Dulquer Salmaan (in a special appearance as the pilot), Mrunal Thakur (in a special appearance as Divya), S.S. Rajamouli (in a special appearance as a bounty hunter) and Ram Gopal Varma (in a special appearance as Chintu) lend tremendous star value. Malvika Nair (as Uttara), K.V. Anudeep (as Bani’s son) and Fariah Abdulla (as Peacock) add value in special appearances. Hamish Boyd (as Yuri), Harshith Reddy (as Luke), Humhu (as Krane), Keerthy Suresh (as the voice of car Bujji), Sanghwa Shin (as Leon), Sanjay Ratha (as Shatru), Vijay Kumar (as Sirius), Kavya Ramachandran (as Lily), Keya Nair (as Raia), Venkata Ramana (as Ronnie), Kushal (as young Ashwathama), Advaith (as Issac), and the others lend terrific support.
Nag Ashwin’s direction (under the mentorship of Singeetam Srinivasa Rao) is extraordinary. He has mixed modernity and science-fiction with mythology/history so wonderfully that he deserves all the praise. He has made a visually stunning film of the kind rarely seen on the Indian screen. Credit to him for making a world which one hasn’t seen before. Santhosh Narayanan’s music is good while his background score is par excellence. Lyrics (Kumaar and Siddharth-Garima) are lovely. Djordje Stojiljkovic’s cinematography is heavenly. Action and stunt scenes (by King Solomon, Andy Long, Peter Heines, Sathish, Anbariv and Nick Powell) are absolutely breathtaking and will be loved by the masses. Visual effects (climax sequences by DNEG, other sequences by Embassy and others) are of international standard. 3D affects are of superlative standard. Production designing (by Nitin Zihani Choudhary) and art direction (by Anil Jadhav, Santosh Shetty, Velu and Rembon) are simply splendid. Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao’s editing is super-sharp. Dubbing is excellent.
On the whole, Kalki 2898 AD is a super-hit fare. If one were to consider the business of all the versions (Telugu original as also the dubbed versions in Hindi, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam), it would qualify to be termed a blockbuster of epic proportions. In the final tally, it will turn out to be one of the biggest blockbusters of Indian cinema, if not the biggest. Business of the 3D version will be historic.
Released on 27-6-’24 at Inox (in 16 shows; daily 12 shows from 28-6-’24) and other cinemas of Bombay thru AA Films. Publicity: good. Opening: excellent. …….Also released all over. Opening was terrific despite an odd-day (Thursday) release without holiday.