Kalki 2898 AD (pronounced [kə.l.kɪ]) is a 2024 Indian Telugu-language epic science fiction film[4] directed by Nag Ashwin and produced by C. Aswani Dutt under Vyjayanthi Movies. The film stars Amitabh Bachchan, Prabhas, Deepika Padukone, Kamal Haasan, and Saswata Chatterjee. It is inspired by Hindu mythology, set in a post-apocalyptic world in the year 2898 AD, the film follows the few selected who are on a mission to save the unborn child, Kalki, of SUM-80, a lab subject.

Kalki 2898 AD
Film poster
Theatrical release poster
Directed byNag Ashwin
Screenplay byNag Ashwin
Dialogues byNag Ashwin
Sai Madhav Burra
Story byNag Ashwin
Produced byC. Aswani Dutt
Starring
CinematographyDjordje Stojiljkovic
Edited byKotagiri Venkateswara Rao
Music bySanthosh Narayanan
Production
company
Distributed bysee below
Release date
  • 27 June 2024 (2024-06-27)
Running time
181 minutes[1]
CountryIndia
LanguageTelugu
Budget600 crore[2][3]

The film was officially announced in February 2020 under the tentative title Prabhas 21, as it is the actor's 21st film in the lead role, later changed to Project K after the arrival of the main cast. Principal photography commenced a year later in July 2021 due to COVID-19 pandemic. It was shot sporadically in several legs over the next three years, and wrapped by mid-March 2024. The official title was announced in July 2023. The film has music composed by Santhosh Narayanan, cinematography handled by Djordje Stojiljkovic and editing by Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao. Made on a 600 crore (US$72 million) production budget, it is the most expensive Indian film.

Kalki 2898 AD was initially scheduled to release on 9 May 2024, but was postponed due to unfinished production works. It was released worldwide on 27 June 2024 in IMAX, 3D and other formats.

Plot

In 2898 AD, the desertified city of Kasi is now the only city known to exist, ruled by a totalitarian elite, led by god king Supreme Yaskin, from a hovering inverted-pyramidal-megastructure above the city, known as the "Complex". Set against the backdrop of ancient Indian Hindu mythology and a dystopian society, the story chronicles the journey spanning millennia, from the events of the Mahabharata in the year 3102 BC, the beginning of Kali Yuga, to 2898 AD. The core of the narrative revolves around the arrival of enigmatic figure of Kalki, the tenth and final avatar of the Hindu deity, Vishnu.[5]

Cast

Cameo appearances

Production

Development

Kalki 2898 AD is the first collaboration of Prabhas with Nag Ashwin.

After the success of Mahanati in 2019, Nag Ashwin stated that he had been working on an original story, for which screenplay he used a long time on. He also stated that the production would begin soon.[24] The project would be funded by C. Aswani Dutt's Vyjayanthi Movies, which also funded Mahanati. The company announced on 7 August that the production would begin in September and posted a casting call for various artist positions.[25][26] On 26 February 2020, coinciding the occasion of 50th year since the establishment of Dutt's house, Prabhas was announced to be the lead actor. Tentatively titled Prabhas 21, production would begin after the actor completes filming for Radhe Shyam (2022).[27] The film was made on a production budget of 600 crore, and Prabhas was reported to receive 150 crore (US$18 million) as his remuneration.[28][29]

The actor, however, reportedly decided to take the revenue sharing model, receiving 80 crore as advance, and a chunk of the profits would be given to him as remuneration.[30] In February 2021, it was reported that the filming would begin in March; however, Ashwin during the promotions for his short film in Pitta Kathalu (2021) stated that due to the COVID-19 pandemic and Prabhas' prior commitments, the filming would commence at the latter half of the year.[31] The film's official title, Kalki 2898 AD, was announced on 21 July 2023.[32] It is a reference to Kalki, an avatar of Hindu deity Vishnu in the Hindu eschatology, according to the Bhagavata Purana, and 3102 BC – traditionally thought to be the beginning of Kali Yuga after the Mahabharata War (the film being set 6,000 years into the Kali Yuga, the era of the asura/demon Kali).[33][34][35]

Casting

Prabhas would sport long hair and beard, with reporters reminiscing his look in the film with Baahubali.[36][37] Deepika Padukone was cast as the female lead,[38] in her second Telugu film after the unreleased Love 4 Ever.[39][40] Amitabh Bachchan was confirmed to play an important role, in his Telugu film debut as he only appeared in cameo appearances.[41] Ashwin stated that his role was "so important that his character's name was the working title of an early draft".[42] Kamal Haasan also joined the film in an important role,[43] whilst Disha Patani was also cast in an important role.[44] The film marks both's return to Telugu cinema after Cheekati Rajyam and Loafer (both 2015), respectively.[43][44]

Rajendra Prasad,[45] Shobhana,[46] Saswata Chatterjee,[47] Brahmanandam,[48] Pasupathy,[49] and Malvika Nair would play prominent roles.[50] Anna Ben would also make her Telugu debut with this film.[51] Keerthy Suresh and Arjun Das appeared in voice only roles respectively; former as Bujji and latter as Lord Krishna.[52][53] Harshith Malgireddy, Kavya Ramachandran, Ayaz Pasha, Anil George, Keya Nair, Vinay Kumar, Venkata Ramana, Hamish Boyd and Sanghawa Shin were present during the film's preliminary shooting schedule.[54] Dulquer Salmaan, Vijay Deverakonda, Mrunal Thakur, S. S. Rajamouli, Ram Gopal Varma and K. V. Anudeep briefly had respective cameo appearances.[55]

Pre-production

The film was recognised as "Project K" which served as the working title of the film.[56] Ashwin stated that the film needed high-end technology and futuristic vehicles to be developed for the film. While they can be recreated using computer-generated imagery (CGI), Ashwin wanted them to feel "authentic and genuine", therefore opted to build these vehicles from scratch with a dedicated team of engineers.[57] In March 2022, Ashwin requested businessman Anand Mahindra to provide technical support to build such type of vehicles.[58]

A few days later, Mahindra responded that their company Mahindra & Mahindra would assist the production team from their Mahindra Research Valley campus in Chennai.[59] In July 2021, the makers have erected a futuristic set at Ramoji Film City in Hyderabad where a significant portion of filming is expected to take place.[60]

In August 2020, A. R. Rahman was initially approached to compose music for the film. Rahman did not sign the film,[61] and Ashwin retained technicians from his earlier film Mahanati (2018), namely, composer Mickey J. Meyer and cinematographer Dani Sanchez-Lopez.[62] But later, Serbian cinematographer, Djordje Stojiljkovic, replaced Dani Sanchez-Lopez as the official cinematographer of the film. In February 2023, Dutt stated in an interview that Santhosh Narayanan replaced Meyer as the composer, along with a female Bollywood composer composing a song for the film.[63] Singeetam Srinivasa Rao joined the project to serve as a mentor.[64]

Kalki 2898 AD was estimated to be mounted at a budget of 600 crore (US$72 million), making it the most expensive Indian film ever made.[2]

Filming

 
Ramoji Film City, where parts of the film were shot

Initially, the film was planned to begin its regular shoot in November 2020. However, it was postponed to the following year due to the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic.[65] Principal photography commenced in Hyderabad in July 2021 on the occasion of Guru Purnima, following a muhurtam shot featuring Bachchan.[66] Prabhas and Padukone joined the production in December 2021 and scenes featuring Bachchan, Prabhas and Padukone were shot.[67][68] The second schedule of the shoot took place in February 2022.[69]

Instead of shooting the entire film in a single stretch, the team divided its 80–90 days of shoot into 7–8 days every month. This allowed the production team to take time and prepare the gadgets and props to be used in the film. Therefore, the production of the film was expected to take longer than usual.[70] DIY Arri Alexa 65 camera was used to shoot the film, thus making it the first Indian film to use this technology.[71]

Prabhas was expected to start filming his solo portions in April 2022,[72] however, his knee surgery led to a delay of his upcoming projects including Salaar and Kalki 2898 AD.[73] 90% of the shoot was done in sets built in Ramoji Film City.[74] In June, Bachchan shot for a scene at Raidurg metro station.[75] In July, Padukone and Prabhas shot for a car chase sequence in Hyderabad.[76] Prabhas completed shooting the majority of his portions by the end of this schedule.[77]

Principal photography of the film was expected to be completed by January 2023, following which post-production and visual effects works would take around 8 months.[78] However, the film was still being shot in March 2023 when Bachchan injured his ribs and was advised to take rest in Mumbai.[79] Around 70% of the filming was completed by June 2023.[80] On 20 July 2023 at the San Diego Comic-Con, Nag Ashwin revealed that while the film was mostly shot in Telugu, they were also reshooting some scenes in Hindi to make them more impactful.[81] A romantic track featuring Prabhas and Disha Patani was filmed in Italy in March 2024 including at the Royal Palace of Caserta.[82][83]

Post-production

The film features visual effects by the studios Prime Focus DNEG and The Embassy Visual Effects.[84][85] These studios also collaborated with StealthWorks Taiwan, Folks VFX, Lola Visual Effects, Pixstone Images and Labyrinth.[86][87]

DNEG and The Embassy created the film's environments and action sequences. The Embassy handled approximately 700 shots for the film and DNEG handled the principal visual effects and CGI shots for the film.[88] Their tasks included creating a desert wasteland, futuristic vehicles for high-speed chases, utilising a broad range of VFX techniques, and creating 3 distinct worlds of: Kasi, Shambhala, and the Complex.[89]

Music

The music of the film was composed by Santhosh Narayanan.[90] The audio rights of the film were acquired by Saregama.[91] The first single, titled "Bhairava Anthem", was released on 16 June 2024.[92][93][94] The second single titled "Theme of Kalki" was released on 25 June 2024.[95]

Telugu

Track listing
No.TitleLyricsSinger(s)Length
1."Bhairava Anthem"Ramajogayya Sastry, KumaarDiljit Dosanjh, Deepak Blue2:44
2."Theme of Kalki"ChandraboseKaala Bhairava, Ananthu, Gowtham Bharadwaj, Chorus3:10

Hindi

Track listing
No.TitleLyricsSinger(s)Length
1."Bhairava Anthem"KumaarDiljit Dosanjh, Vijaynarain, Santhosh Narayanan2:42
2."Theme of Kalki"KumaarGowtham Bharadwaj, Chorus3:10

Marketing

 
Kalki 2898 AD team at the 2023 San Diego Comic-Con

The film's first look was released on 19 July 2023.[96] Kalki 2898 – A.D became the first Indian film to be presented at San Diego Comic-Con's Hall-H on 20 July 2023, where the makers unveiled the official title and glimpse, this had been preceded by the release of a limited comic-strip panel of an important scene in the film between "The Raiders" (followers of Kali) and Bhairava.[97][98][99]

On the occasion of Maha Shivaratri, the makers released a poster revealing Prabhas's character as Bhairava.[100][101] A new teaser introducing the character Ashwatthama was unveiled on 21 April 2024. Inspired by the immortal character from the ancient Indian epic Mahabharata, Ashwatthama was portrayed by Amitabh Bachchan.[102] On 27 April, the makers announced the new release date with a poster featuring Prabhas, Amitabh Bachchan and Deepika Padukone.[103] On 30 April 2024, Prabhas took fans of cinema and cricket by surprise as he appeared as Bhairava for an IPL promotional video during Lucknow Super Giants vs Mumbai Indians.[104] On 2 May 2024, Amitabh Bachchan appeared in his character of Ashwatthama where he delivered a motivational speech to the Indian cricket team as they prepare for the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024.[105]

On 22 May 2024, in an event in Ramoji Film City in Hyderabad, a teaser introducing Prabhas' Robot sidekick AI humanoid vehicle "Bujji" was released.[106] Anand Mahindra wrote that "we are so proud of Nag Ashwin and his tribe of filmmakers who aren’t afraid to think big" while he shared that the engineers at Mahindra Research Valley helped the Kalki 2898 AD team realise its vision for the futuristic vehicle.[107] On 27 May 2024, the makers and Amazon Prime Video announced a two-part animated prelude, titled Bujji and Bhairava, which was released on the platform on 31 May 2024 as part of the Kalki Cinematic Universe.[108][109] The official trailer of the film was released on 10 June 2024.[110] Concept artists Sung Choi and Oliver Beck, the latter's from the artwork for Star Trek: Prodigy, alleged that the initial frames of the trailer used their artwork without permission or credits.[111][112] On 19 June 2024, a pre-release event was held in Mumbai, with Prabhas, Amitabh Bachchan, Kamal Haasan, Deepika Padukone, Rana Daggubati, and the film's producers attending the event.[113] The release-trailer of the film was released on 21 June 2024.[114] The theme song of the film, "Theme of Kalki", was unveiled on the evening of 23 June 2024 in Lord Krishna's birthplace, Mathura, Uttar Pradesh, along the banks of the Yamuna river.[115][116] Additionally, an interview conversation featuring Prabhas, Bachchan, Haasan, and Padukone, along with the producers, was also released on YouTube.[117]

Release

Theatrical

Kalki 2898 AD was released worldwide on 27 June 2024 in variety of formats, including 3D, 4DX, IMAX, HFR and Dolby Vision.[118] Apart from Telugu, it was also released Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada and English in dubbed versions.[119] The film was initially planned to release in 2022, but was delayed to 9 May 2024 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and unfinished production works.[120] It was, however, postponed again from 9 May to 27 June, owing to the 2024 Indian general election.[121] Kalki 2898 AD was the first film of Prabhas to be released in the IMAX format in Singapore.[122]

Distribution

Annapurna Studios acquired the distribution rights of the film in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana for 145 crore (US$17 million).[123][124] Dulquer Salmaan's Wayfarer Films bought the distribution rights for Kerala,[125] and Sri Lakshmi Films did so for Tamil Nadu.[126] KVN Productions acquired the distribution rights for Karnataka.[127] Dreamz Entertainment acquired the distribution rights for the UK and Prathyangira Cinemas and The Village Groupe for the rest of Europe,[128][129] Prathyangira Cinemas and AA Creations for North America,[130] Vision Singapore for Singapore,[131] Suraya Filem for Malaysia,[132] and Mind Blowing Films for Australia and New Zealand.[133]

Pre-bookings

Pre-bookings started in the United States on 6 June 2024, three weeks before the film's release. Nearly 4,200 tickets were sold on the first day of pre-bookings with a collection of US$135,000 (1.1 crore).[134] Pre-bookings started in the UK, Canada and in Germany on 11 June 2024, two weeks before the film's release.[135][136] After the trailer was released, the advance booking for the film in the US crossed over US$760K.[137] 20,000 tickets were sold for the film's premiere in the UK.[138] Pre-bookings in the US crossed US$1 million in lesser days than S. S. Rajamouli's RRR (2022), thus becoming the fastest Indian film to achieve this feat.[139]

Pre-release business

According to Indian trade sources, Kalki 2898 AD archived a pre-release business recovery of 600 crore (US$72 million), with the sale of satellite, digital, music and theatrical rights, out of which, 390 crore (US$47 million) has been earned from the theatrical rights.[140] The overseas distribution rights of the film were acquired by The Village Groupe for 80 crore (US$9.6 million).[141][142]

Home media

The digital streaming rights were acquired by Amazon Prime Video and satellite rights by Gemini TV.[143][144]

Reception

Critical response

A critic for Bollywood Hungama rated the film 4 stars out of 5 and wrote, "On the whole, Kalki 2898 AD stands as a grandiose spectacle that depicts the future like never before in Indian cinema and also merges mythology seamlessly, thereby delivering a unique experience to the audiences."[145] Chirag Sehgal of News18 gave 4/5 stars and wrote "It combines action with visual spectacle and mythology with technology and science – which makes the film worth watching."[146] Goutam S of Pinkvilla gave 4/5 stars and wrote "If you are a lover of films which has a grand scale, epic narration, amazing visuals, groundbreaking performances, and unbelievable storytelling, then surely watch this feast of a movie in the screens near you."[147] Janani K of India Today gave 3.5/5 stars and wrote "Like Baahubali, Kalki 2898 AD ends on a cliffhanger and paves the way for a new cinematic world altogether. The surprise cameos, even though leaked by Prabhas himself, were perfect theatrical moments."[148] Sukanya Verma of Rediff rated 3.5/5 stars and applauds "Prabhas may be the face of Kalki 2898 AD’s heroics but the real bang for your buck is delivered in Amitabh Bachchan’s indefatigable energy providing Kalki’s biggest wolf-whistle moments."[149]

Ronek Kotecha of The Times of India gave 3/5 stars and wrote "The film’s visual quality is so high that it overshadows many of its obvious flaws by engaging the audience into the atmospherics of the make-believe world of Kasi and the Complex".[150] Sashidar Adivi of Times Now gave 3/5 stars and wrote "Overall, the film is a VFX wonder. The setup and the universe are brilliant, however, the writing needs introspection."[151] Avad Mohammed of OTTplay gave 3/5 stars and wrote "On the whole, Kalki 2898 AD is a technically brilliant film with never-before-seen visuals in an Indian film. The presence of A-listers and amazing action episodes make for a big-screen watch. Just ignore the slow pace."[152] Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV rated 2.5 out of 5 and noted "it falls back on the sheer sweep of mounting and execution to make up for what lacks in terms of the writing".[153]

Sangeetha Devi Dundoo of The Hindu wrote "Despite these shortcomings, Kalki is a brave new attempt that deserves big cheers."[154] Neeshita Nyayapathi of Hindustan Times wrote "Nag Ashwin's dystopian film might not be flawless, but it’s gutsy and intriguing enough to be watched on-screen."[155]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b Shambhala or Sambhal, near Kasi in northern India, is prophesied to be the birthplace of Kalki, the future avatar of Vishnu, in Hindu scriptures. This concept was later borrowed into the Kalachakra tradition of Tibetan Buddhism where it is described a mystical kingdom somewhere beyond the Himalayas and also as a state of mind.[15][16]

References

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