Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Kamal Haasan, Prabhas, Deepika Padukone, Disha Patani, Shobana, Pasupathy and Brahmanandam
Director: Nag Ashwin
Music Director: Santhosh Narayanan
Rating- 3/5
Kalki 2898 AD is one the most-awaited Indian films of the year and a crucial project for Prabhas, whose fans have been waiting to see a riveting performance from their ‘darling’ for quite some time now. Nag Ashwin begins the story from the Mahabharat’s Kurukshetra war as Krishna curses Ashwaththama (Amitabh Bachchan) with immortality until he serves his karma.
The story travels 6,000 years forward to the fictional city of Kasi, which is touted to be the final destination of the world and we are shown a huge complex ruled by the Supreme Yaskin (Kamal Haasan where he is seen killing the last of fertile women on the planet and tries to gain powers from a serum extracted from their embryo. Then we are introduced to Bhairava, a selfish and a happy-go-lucky youngster in his car Bujji, whose only aim is to gain units to enter Yaksin’s complex. He gains his units as a bounty hunter for Yaskin’s men. If things are to be set right, it would be possible only by the Rebels in the city of Shambala, along with SUM80 (Deepika Padukone), who is the bearer of Kalki Avatar. But for someone like Bhairava, there is no difference between good and evil until he gains a million units to make it to the complex.
He does so for a brief period with the help of his girlfriend Roxie (Disha Patani), who manages to get a job inside the complex. These character establishments take most of the time, which makes for the first half in the 180-minute and 56-second film. By the time the story reaches the romantic point of Bhairava and Roxie, it becomes dreary. However, the story slowly builds up to SUM80, which leads to twists and turns and brings Ashwaththama back to life in the year 2898 AD. This comes across as a huge sigh of relief. However, striking visuals and VFX help us sit through the first half of the film.
While it is usual for a film to pick up pace immediately in the second half, Kalki 2898 differs. There are a few more stronger points to these established characters, and they take their time to settle down. There is a shift in momentum and the character arcs begin to get better. We exclude the legendary Brahmanandam here, whose comedy is an irrelevant addition to the film and doesn’t evoke any laughter. Though there are minor deviations in the second half, the story gets better as it travels from Kasi to Shambala. Whenever there is Amitabh Bachchan gracing the screen as the 8-foot Ashwaththama, the film gets better. Fortunately, he is there predominantly in the second half.
But Prabhas too has finally relieved himself from the shackles of a firm body language from his previous films and is really impressive as Bhairava in different shades. His free-flowing mannerisms and emotions are adorable on screen and we feel like his charisma is back with him in Kalki. Santhosh Narayanan’s music in the chase sequence and in the Shambala fight shows why he is still one of the most-preferred music directors in the south. Though I am not a huge fan of superhero films, the rooted emotions in Kalki make it a good watch. The VFX work is on par with Marvel and DC films. Finally, we can proudly say that Hollywood has a tough competitor with Kalki 2898 as the technical aspects of the film will stay relevant for the next few decades to come. This is the major takeaway of the film apart from strong performances from the cast.
Kamal Haasan as Yaskin is something that is out-of-the-box. Nag Ashwin has given him a solid base for the Kalki Universe and we will see more of Kamal’s versatility in the franchise. Overall, Kalki has almost got everything right in terms of VFX, performances, and music in a decent commercial package.