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Mythology, on this date, is a tricky space for content creators. Keeping aside the cost factor, fringe groups wouldn’t greenlight creative interpretations of an epic text. Science fiction, too, is unfamiliar territory for India as our society isn’t one that grew up on a staple diet of Star Trek, Star Wars, and superheroes with capes. To Indians, a superhero might as well be a warrior from the Mahabharata – a magnificent epic that’s also noticeably under-told in mainstream cinema. Director Nag Ashwin’s Kalki 2898 AD bravely tiptoes into a twin territory of mythology and science fiction to spin a fascinating world.
Set in Varanasi from the future, the universe is reminiscent of the terrains we traveled along with Furiosa in Mad Max: Fury Road. In an episode from the past, we meet the immortal Ashwatthama (Amitabh Bachchan) who we learn is destined to arrive in the present to safeguard humankind. In Varanasi (referred to as Kashi), we meet Bhairava (Prabhas) – a skilled bounty hunter- who moves around with a vivacious-sounding AI device Bhujji (voice-acted by Keerthy Suresh). It’s a dictatorial world and the shadow of a mysterious, near-inaccessible platform called the ‘complex’ looms large. Bhairava is courted by a svelte Roxie (Disha Patani) and he lives with an aged landlord (Brahmanandam).
Another cog in the wheel is Sum-80 alias Sumathi (Deepika Padukone). She is pregnant and is in a dungeon where fertile women are kept as hostages for Supreme Yaskin (Kamal Haasan). The evil intent of the antagonists is not what you would expect in a conventional setup.
The prime selling point of Kalki 2898 AD is none of its superstars. It is the film’s creative storyline that keeps you on the tenterhooks. Neither do the writers (Nag Ashwin, Rutham Samar) resort to excessive foreshadowing nor do they design the characters around a star’s popular image. The Mahabharata meets Mad Max saga has a long list of merits – be it in the screenplay, technique, and direction. That said, the film isn’t without its share of drawbacks. The biggest liability of Kalki 2898 AD is the leading man himself. While the screenplay takes ages to land a point concerning his characterization, the film drags on endlessly the moment Bhairava surfaces on screen. The tendency is evident in the early reels, notably in the man’s yawn-inducing opening sequence.
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Every time Bhairava is out of the picture, Kalki 2898 AD comes up with a new exciting facet or another set of authentic characters. Barring Disha Patani’s cosmetic cameo, the female characters are lovingly conceived. It was a joy to watch the love story of Kyra (Anna Ben) and Ajju (Ayaz Pasha). The rebel matriarch Mariam (Shobana) is a sight to behold and so is Padukone’s intensity as the nameless (Sumathi is her earned name) pregnant woman. Nag Ashwin fills his narrative with sensational cameos which, besides featuring certain big guns, bring to us Ram Gopal Varma’s wit and SS Rajamouli’s badassery.
The hottest cake in the bakery is Amitabh Bachchan’s Ashwatthama. While the character sketch, by default, is half battle won for the actor, the famous baritone comes alive in full throttle as the film navigates through complex action sequences. Needless to add, the VFX and sound design come to a significant rescue in making Ashwin’s film what it is. Whether it is in de-aging a thespian like Bachchan or in the way the war sequences are designed, Kalki 2898 AD is possibly India’s most authentic use of high-scale CGI in cinema as yet (DNEG). The soundscape in Dolby Atmos is highly immersive giving the fight sequences the necessary wattage.
Prabhas’ central character is interesting but the film takes a long time to mark his purpose. To the actor’s credit, he isn’t half as bad as he was in some of his recent efforts. The screenplay and the character allow him to exercise his charming ways. Yet, in the presence of other stronger elements and better actors, Bhairava becomes a distraction at various junctures in the 3-hour-long film.
Nag Ashwin’s film is also a little lengthy for what it wants to say. The action bits, notably those in the first two acts, are criminally long. The absence of a catchy musical score (Santhosh Madhavan) is another downer if you wish the entertainment quotient to be measured on a scale of 1 to Baahubali.
Despite a handful of hiccups, there’s no denying that Kalki 2898 AD is a colossally entertaining feature film. Nag Ashwin designs a magnum opus that does not stupefy an epic, underuses the star players, or devalues its female characters – except for the opening credits where the male actors get a prefix of honor, not their female counterparts. Touted to be a franchise of giant proportions, the film ends with a thematically gratifying and visually stunning image merely confirming that if Kalki 2898 AD is not popular Indian cinema done right, nothing else is.
Rating: ★★★ 1/2
