A science-fiction film like no other ever attempted in India. An exciting casting coup with Amitabh Bachchan and Kamal Haasan opposite each other. Futuristic vehicles developed specially for the film by Mahindra & Mahindra. Kalki 2898 AD qualifies for many firsts, set 6,000 years after the Kurukshetra War, in a post-apocalyptic world ruled by a god-king.
Which is exactly why it would be intriguing to get inside the mind of director Nag Ashwin and ask him about his inspirations, perspectives and experience of working on a mega project such as this. And so The Free Press Journal prodded him about audience reactions to the film, whether he would take it as a compliment to be compared to all the various movies that had entered the conversation around the film on social media and in real world discussions and more.
Nag says that he is a fan of the initial Star War movies, and also the black and white Telugu mythological films. With his film being compared to everything from Star Wars to Harry Potter and more, the director says whether it true or not, he’s happy with the comparisons, as they’re all landmark films. Also a fan of the TV series Buffy The Vampire Slayer (1997-2003) and the cartoon Swat Kats (1993-1995), he says the primary reason why Kalki is being lauded is for being an Indian film which has pulled off something on this magnitude, making it a reason for national pride.
A still from the film |
There is an increase in the number of kids reading the Mahabharata, along with sales of the epic going up on Amazon, is the feedback he has got.
However, one aspect of the film which is being criticized, is its length. In his perspective, people saying that a certain song or other scenes were unnecessary and weren’t needed as a crutch could also be seen as an accolade, as the audience were already invested in his world and didn’t require them.
Nag had made his directorial debut in 2015 with Yevade Subramanyam, which won him the Nandi Award for Best Debut Director. In 2018, he directed Mahanati, a biopic of actress Savitri, which went on to become the highest-grossing female-led South Indian film and won him the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Telugu and the Filmfare Award for Best Director – Telugu. Kalki, on the other hand, also created history last year when it became the first Indian film to be presented at the San Diego Comic-Con on July 20, 2023, where the makers unveiled the official title of the film as Kalki 2898 AD.
A still from the film |
At Rs 600 crores, it was an expensive film to put together. Or as legendary Hollywood actor Clint Eastwood had once said about a movie, “This film cost USD31 million. With that kind of money I could have invaded some country.” Admittedly, Nag says that even though they had mega stars almost at the peak of their career, with the expense that was put into the VFX and creating that world, it was a massive chance that they were taking. Talking of box office numbers and comparisons, Nag says that “now we are into this game. And not just in films but even cricketers’ stats are always being compared.”
Speaking of the star cast comprising Amitabh Bachchan, Kamal Haasan, Deepika Padukone and Prabhas, one has to ask him about how it was working with the two stalwarts.
“We were actually a very young team and were just running around trying to make things happen and figuring it out. There would be times when we shot certain scenes in Hindi and Telugu, and at times the translation in one of the languages wasn’t the right fit, even basic grammar at times.
And for someone like Mr Bachchan whose vocabulary is so good, it would have been very easy to lose his temper or to get impatient and tell us off by saying we weren’t prepared and give us a piece of his mind. But he would never do that. He would actually sit down and discuss and suggest how something could be better,” he said about Big B.
As far as Haasan is concerned, Nag said that though there weren’t too many scenes of his in the film, but whenever there was any discussion about his character, he would go into a deep dive, which would open so many doors about so many movies or books he would recommend and go to places that they weren’t even thinking of. “It felt like a film school almost after a while, I would even forget Kalki or Yaskin, and I'm just listening to what he's saying. I think just the opportunity to work with him is a blessing for any filmmaker.”
