Director: Nag Ashwin
Cast: Prabhas, Amitabh Bachchan, Deepika Padukone, Saswata Chatterjee, Kamal Haasan, Disha Patani and others
Where: In theatres near you
Rating: 3 stars
Director Nag Ashwin’s Kalki 2898 AD is a stereotypical and formulaic Prabhas film that is visually appealing but the entire anticipation drops big time with cheesy dialogues, distasteful humour, lengthy runtime and tangled screenplay.
Set in the dystopian era, the film is based on the characters of Mahabharata and last and the tenth incarnation of Lord Vishnu, Kalki, son of Sumati, who takes birth to wipe out the sins of Kalyug (derived from Kali Yug).
Ashwathama (Amitabh Bachchan), who was cursed with immortality by Lord Krishna is in search of Sumati Maa (Deepika Padukone), who is carrying Kalki in her womb. Bhairava (Prabhas), a man-robot with powers in the world of hi-tech Kashi and his subordinate Bujji are on a mission to save the world from the evil.
Supreme (Kamal Hassan) and his disciples Anil George and Saswata Chatterjee, creators of Project K, are looking to extract the serum of immortality from Sumati to rule the world. An eventful turn takes place when Ashwathama along with Bhairava face off the evil powers just to save soon-to-born Kalki.
Ashwin makes a decent amount of sense to his plot, characters and has a clever way to keep you at the edge of your seat, but, where he goes low is dubbing, continuity glitches, overdramatic moments, and an ordinary sprinkle of south Indian flavour.
The high points include top notch action sequences, stunning VFX and a tease for second part. Mrunal Thakur, RGV, Dulquer Salmaan’s cameos are passable, however, SS Rajamouli and Vijay Deverakonda's roles are interesting and noticeable. Disha, who plays the love interest of Bhairava has literally nothing to offer, and she remains futile to the script.
Amitabh, Prabhas and Deepika are in their usual best forms. Ashwin uses the star powers quite aptly. But, to like Kalki 2898 AD, you need to be aware of Hindu Mythology, its gods, their motives, why and how Mahabharata happened and so on.
Kalki 2898 AD is a technically potent kids' film that is enjoyable in parts.
