‘Kalki 2898 AD’ has been praised for weaving together elements from the Mahabharata with sci-fi and director Nag Ashwin, who already has a sequel in the works, is confident that Indian mythological stories, if told correctly, can match the complexity of the western superhero genre.

The film, starring Amitabh Bachchan, Kamal Haasan, Prabhas and Deepika Padukone in key roles, has turned out to be a money-spinner at the box office at a time when the big budget titles have failed to yield results.

Is ‘Kalki 2898 AD’ India’s answer to superhero movies from the stables of Marvel and DC Studios in Hollywood?

“I don’t know if it is an answer or not but we definitely have the kind of stories and the depth, complexity and heroism that any other Marvel or DC movie (has). We just have to delve into it and tell it in the correct way.

“If we tell it in a way that the generation now is used to, maybe mix it with sci-fi, I feel that would be the correct way. And that’s actually worked out because people are now feeling that it is our story,” Ashwin told PTI in an interview.
Set in the future dystopian city of Kashi (Varanasi), the story revolves around Bachchan’s immortal warrior Ashwathhama who is trying to protect the next avatar of Lord Vishnu, carried by Padukone’s Sumathi. Prabhas’ Bhairava, a bounty hunter, is sent to find her by Haasan’s antagonist Supreme Yaskin.

The sequel, ‘Kashi 2898 AD’ is already in the works, he said, adding that it will be a continuation of the story, which looks familiar and yet fresh.

“They have seen these familiar tropes in ‘Star Wars’ and Marvel films but it is still in Kashi. It still has an auto on the streets. It feels like all the worlds have come together… You don’t want to feel derivative, you don’t want to feel like it’s Blade Runner. It should look like Kashi, not Tokyo,” Ashwin is quoted in the PTI report as saying.

Some of the visuals of the film have been compared to recent Hollywood futuristic spectacles be it the ‘Mad Max’ movies or ‘Dune’.

The director, however, said there is nothing common between his film and the two Hollywood movies other than visuals of the desert.

“I love ‘Star Wars’… There must be something subconscious there. Other movies not so much except for the fact that we have desert in our film and there is also desert in ‘Dune’ and ‘Mad Max’.

“Apart from that, it has nothing to do with the story, technology or design. Having the funny robot sidekick (Bhairava’s AI car Bujji) is probably a ‘Star Wars’ thing. Maybe aging the vehicles to make them look rusty was also an aesthetic from there,” he said.

The film’s box office success — it has crossed the Rs 700 crore mark globally — has come with “relief and gratitude” as the team gave a lot to it for many years, said Ashwin, who has lived with the story for more than five years.

Like any other child growing up in the country, the director said he too was familiar with the characters of Mahabharata through books and the famous 1988 serial but he read the book in its entirety when he started working on the movie.

Asked if the anger inherent in Bachchan’s character was a homage to the ‘Angry Young Man’ characters the actor played in the 70s, Ashwin said it must have come subconsciously.

“But Ashwathhama was known to have a short temper and he was a fierce warrior. These things just came together and Bachchan sir was perfect for the role,” he explained.

Produced by Vyjayanthi Movies, the film released in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Hindi and English on June 27.

Bachchan Expresses Gratitude: Megastar Amitabh Bachchan yesterday expressed gratitude to fans for the love that has come his way for ‘Kalki 2898 AD’ and praised the “audacious mind” of director Nag Ashwin for transforming the Hindu epic Mahabharata for modern-day viewing, according to a PTI report from New Delhi.

The 81-year-old actor is receiving glowing reviews for his role of the immortal warrior Ashwathhama in the star-studded sci-fi spectacle.

“The essence of KALKI resounds within and without .. and my gracious gratitude,” Bachchan wrote on X.

In a lengthy post on his personal blog, the screen icon said he watched ‘Kalki 2898 AD’ for the third time recently.

“The experience just keeps building .. every time you notice and admire the pains taken by the Director in purring this massive vision in fructification, and presenting it in a manner that makes the film historic .. historic not just in its commercial prospects, but historic in its values of the audacious mind of the Director in metamorphosing the legend of the Mahabharat with its manifestation after 6000 years, into the viewage of modern day humans that go to see the film TODAY in 2024 … (sic)” he wrote.

“Yes the film is a massive spectacle .. but it is also a learning .. a learning of the merger of myth and reality .. and a learning to the filmmakers on the process of putting this mammoth together for a viewing audience ..” he added.

Bachchan also lauded the makers of the film, produced by Vyjayanthi Movies, for “brilliantly” interpreting the mythological epic Mahabharata, comprising over 1.40 lakh verses.