Story
Ashwatthama (Amitabh Bachchan) is cursed by Lord Krishna during Kurukshetram war that he would live eternally with discomfort and pain. The only way to get out of it is to help a pregnant woman deliver Kalki (10th avatar of Lord Vishnu) after 6000 years. Bhairava (Prabhas) is a bounty hunter in Kasi (the first city and last city of the world which turned into a dystopian land). He needs a million units to enter the Complex. He has been attempting to earn units, but fails each time to make substantial units. Supreme Yaskin (Kamal Haasan) is the head of the complex. He needs Project-K success to survive. Then there is a rebel group in Shambala that is attempting to attack Yaskin. Rest of the story is all about how all these characters are interconnected.

Artists Performance

Amitabh Bachchan is exceptionally powerful and gracious as Ashwatthama. His role is very important and the narration follows his role, hence audiences also intently follow his character. Kamal Haasan is superb in the role of the supreme of the complex. There are only two scenes of him in the film. He creates a lot of impact with his eyes. Prabhas should be appreciated for blindly trusting the vision of the director. His character is mostly fun. Director Nag Ashwin uses his lazy elegance to the maximum extent to create fun. Deepika Padukone makes sure that her charm, grace and poise help the character to elevate. Disha Patani is mostly used for some glamor though her character too drives the story forward. Keerthy Suresh’s voice plays a major role. The camaraderie among Bhairava and Bujji is established so well because of the voice of Keerthy Suresh. Rajendra Prasad is terrific in a brief role. Vijay Deverakonda has donned a very important role which is breezy. He does justice. Dulquer Salmaan did a cameo. Sobhana is elegant as the head of Shambala. Brahmanandam gives us some relief because we get to listen to a familiar Telugu voice amidst Telugu of different accents. Anna Ben is impressive and sheds some cheer as a warrior from Shambala. Malavika Nair, Pasupathy and Saswata Chatterjee are fine. It’s nice to see cameos of directors SS Rajamouli, Ram Gopal Varma and Anudeep. SS Rajamouli’s part is hilarious with reference to Bahubali taking 5 years to shoot.

Story - screenplay - direction: Story of the film is novel. Nag Ashwin has blended Indian mythology into sci-fi genre by creating a futuristic dystopian world. He divides the world into 3 parts (Kasi, Shambala & Complex) and creates conflicts based upon where they stay. Nag Ashwin takes time in establishing the premise, characters and conflict point. It’s very difficult to establish three inherently conflicting places and then create a thread that connects past to present through mythology. Nag Ashwin writes and executes some scenes brilliantly. He establishes the Ashwatthama connection right at the start of the film. He also tells about Shambala, Kasi and Complex briefly in the following sequence where the people are transported to Kasi. The camaraderie between Bhairava and Bujji (AI powered vehicle of Bhairava) is fun and the unit has established the connection to the audiences with an event and a series on OTT. Ashwattama's character and his will to perform his mission is extremely well portrayed. I love the shot where Ashwattama sits at Shambala protecting Sumati. Though there are only two scenes for Yaskin, Nag Ashwin has written them excellently. I also liked the way the references literature/songs (Ghantasala's Bhagavatgeeta rendition for hero’s intro scene) and Sri Sri words from Maha Prasthanam (Kamal utters these words in Aakali Rajyam movie as well). Lord Krishna is shown in silhouette. There could be a reason behind it as Kalki is Krishna (another avatar). On the flip side, the dubbing done doesn’t look organic for all characters (from Telugu audiences perspective). The dystopian world reminds us of a few Hollywood films and a basic thread reminds us of Children of Men.

Other departments: Cinematography by Djordje Stojiljkovic is world-class. CG work is of international standards. Production designer Nitin Zihani Choudhary deserves a special mention for creating the world in an aesthetic way. I loved everything about it except for the white guns held by the rebels in Shambala. Background music composed by Santosh Narayan is excellent. It fits in perfectly. I love the Bujji theme song so much. This theme song is only partly used in the film. Action stunts by King Solomon, Andy Long, Peter Heins, Satish, Anbariv and Nick Powell are superb. Editing by Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao is fine. Additional Dialogues by Sai Madhav Burra are good. Production values by Vyjayanthi Movies are at par with Hollywood films. This movie is probably the biggest film ever made in India in terms of the visuals. Aswini Dutt is always famous for his daring films in terms of budget and commercial aspects. This film is like 100x. Swapna Dutt and Priyanka Dutt should be appreciated for working tirelessly to deliver a world-class product.

Analysis: Kalki 2898 AD is a world-building film that mixes sci-fi and dystopian future with mythology. Nag Ashwin excels in writing characters and conflict. Though the initial part of the film is a little slow, he ups the ante in the 2nd half which is filled with action sequences. Climax of the film is good with interesting revelations. Kalki 2898 AD has entirely different premises and takes you into a new world. The climax of the film and the Yaskin portion after that sets the perfect stage for the part 2. On the whole, Kalki 2898 AD is a movie that is worth a watch - on a big screen. Watch it!!