Kalki 2898 AD

''Kalki 2898 AD'' (; stylised onscreen as ''KALKI 2898'' ''A. D'') is a 2024 Indian Telugu-language epic science fiction film directed by Nag Ashwin and produced by Vyjayanthi Movies. The film stars Amitabh Bachchan, Kamal Haasan, Prabhas, Deepika Padukone and Disha Patani. Inspired by Hindu mythology, it is the first instalment in a planned Kalki Cinematic Universe. Set in a post-apocalyptic world in the year 2898 AD, the film follows a select group who are on a mission to save lab subject SUM-80's unborn child, Kalki.

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 and was later changed to working title ''Project K''. 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 late-May 2024. The official title was announced in July 2023. The film has music composed by Santhosh Narayanan, cinematography handled by Serbian cinematographer Djordje Stojiljkovic and editing by Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao.

''Kalki 2898 AD'' was initially scheduled to release on 9 May 2024, but was postponed due to unfinished post-production work. It was released worldwide on 27 June 2024 in standard, IMAX, 3D and 4DX formats. With a production budget, it is the most expensive Indian film ever made. The film at the end of its theatrical run has grossed globally and has set multiple box office records for an Indian and Telugu film, including the highest-grossing Indian film of 2024, the highest-grossing Telugu film of 2024, the third highest-grossing Telugu film, the fourth highest-grossing film in India and the seventh highest-grossing Indian film.

Plot

In 3102 BC, following the Kurukshetra War, Ashwatthama attempts to kill Uttarā's unborn child. For committing the act, Krishna, the 8th avatar of Vishnu, curses him to roam the earth as an immortal and witness humanity's misery as a result of societal and moral deterioration during the Kali Yuga. His divine gem is also taken from his forehead, and his redemption is destined to occur only by protecting the mother of Kalki, Vishnu's 10th and final avatar, towards the end of the Kali Yuga.

In 2898 AD, 6000 years after the events of the Kurukshetra War, Kasi stands as the last known city in a post-apocalyptic world dominated by Supreme Yaskin, a 200-year-old totalitarian god king. Yaskin rules from the 'Complex', an inverted-pyramid megastructure that floats above the city. His authority is enforced by Commander Manas, Counsellor Bani, and an army of soldiers who guard against threats, particularly rebels from the hidden city of Shambhala, who believe in the prophesied arrival of Kalki. In this dystopian society, fertile female refugees in Kasi are forcibly taken to the Complex for Project K, an experiment aimed at producing a secretive serum for Yaskin through artificially inseminated foetuses. However, the serum does not become potent until after a 150-day gestation period, and none of the foetuses have survived for that long, nor do the pregnant women survive the extraction procedure.

Raia, a young girl disguised as a boy, narrowly escapes conscription into Project K with the help of Shambhalan rebels. Raia finds refuge in a cave where she encounters Ashwatthama. She unknowingly brings him his divine gem, which had inadvertently come into her possession during her escape. After placing the gem in his forehead, Ashwatthama becomes aware that a woman is pregnant with Kalki. Together, the duo set out to find her.

Meanwhile, at the Complex, SUM-80, a Project K subject hiding her 150-day pregnancy, is outed and forced to undergo the extraction procedure. Manas extracts a single drop of serum from her foetus before she is rescued by Shambhalan rebels, who rename her Sumathi. En route to Shambhala their transport is ambushed by bounty hunters and raiders, but they fend them off. Bhairava, a bounty hunter, remains in pursuit with his AI supercar, Bujji.

Soldiers from the Complex corner Sumathi and the rebels. Ashwatthama and Bhairava arrive and defeat the soldiers, before fighting each other for the custody of Sumathi, who is revealed to be the mother of Kalki. Despite Bhairava's best efforts, Ashwatthama subdues him and the party reaches Shambhala, where the tree of life blooms in Kalki's presence. Ashwatthama reveals to Raia that his walking stick is a dormant weapon, the Vijaya Dhanush, that belonged to his friend Karna, a warrior from the Kurukshetra War. Meanwhile, Bhairava makes a deal with Manas to capture Sumathi in exchange for entry into the Complex.

Bhairava tricks a rebel into taking him to Shambala, then disguises himself as Ashwatthama and convinces Sumathi to flee Shambhala with him, but is intercepted by the real Ashwatthama. As they fight, Manas and his soldiers reach Shambhala and breach its defences. Shambhala's leader, Mariam, attempts to protect Sumathi, but she is killed by Manas as his soldiers overwhelm the Shambhalan rebels. Ashwatthama and Bhairava help save Sumathi, but afterwards Ashwatthama knocks Bhairava unconscious before Manas captures and restrains him. Ashwatthama's walking stick and a leaf from the tree of life subsequently falls into the unconscious Bhairava's hand, which reawakens both the weapon and Bhairava, revealing him to be a reincarnation of Karna. Empowered by Karna's bow, in a trance-like state Bhairava effortlessly defeats the invading soldiers and kills Manas. Snapped out of the trance by Bujji, Bhairava returns to his former self and takes Sumathi away, as Ashwatthama looks on.

In a mid-credits scene, Yaskin uses the drop of serum extracted from Sumathi's foetus on himself, partially gaining the power of the unborn Kalki and becoming a youthful superhuman. He picks up Arjuna's bow, Gandiva, and pledges to personally capture Sumathi and her child to reshape the world.

Cast

Adapted from the opening and closing credits:

Cameo appearances

Production

Development

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. The project would be funded by C. Aswani Dutt's Vyjayanthi Movies, which also funded ''Mahanati''. The company announced on 7 August 2019 that the production would begin in September and posted a casting call for various artist positions. 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). The film was made on a production budget of ₹600 crore that included star remuneraion of ₹100 crore each to Prabhas and Kamal Haasan, between ₹35 crore and ₹40 crore to Amitabh Bachchan, ₹20 crore to Deepika Padukone, and ₹12 crore to Disha Patani.

The lead 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. 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. The film's official title, ''Kalki 2898 AD'', was announced on 21 July 2023. 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 Kurukshetra War, from the death of Krishna (the film being set 6,000 years into the Kali Yuga, the era of the asura/demon Kali).

Pre-production

Ashwin co-wrote the film's script along with Rutham Samar, Sai Madhav Burra and B. S. Sarawagna Kumar, in his second consecutive film with Samar and Burra after ''Mahanati''. A muhurat pooja ceremony was held on 24 July 2021 at Ramoji Film City in Hyderabad with the presence of the film's cast and crew. The working title was revealed to have been changed to ''Project K'' the same day. Ashwin stated that the film needed high-end technology and futuristic vehicles to be developed for the film. Although they can be recreated using computer-generated imagery (CGI), the director opted to build these vehicles from scratch.

In March 2022, Ashwin requested businessman Anand Mahindra to provide technical support to build such type of vehicles. A few days later, Mahindra responded that their company Mahindra & Mahindra would assist the production team from their Mahindra Research Valley campus in Chennai. In July 2021, the makers erected a futuristic set at Ramoji Film City in Hyderabad where a significant portion of filming is expected to take place. A. R. Rahman had been initially approached, in August 2020, to compose music for the film but the talks fell out.

Ashwin retained most of his technicians, including composer Mickey J. Meyer, editor Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao, production designer Nithin Zihani Choudhary, cinematographer Dani Sanchez-Lopez, costume designers Thota Vijay Bhaskar, Shaleena Nathani and Sahithi Patha. However, 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 Hindi film composer composing a song for the film. Andreas Nguyen was chosen as the stunt choreographer of the film. Singeetam Srinivasa Rao joined the project to serve as a mentor.

Casting

Prabhas would sport long hair and beard, with reporters reminiscing his look in the film with ''Baahubali''. Deepika Padukone was cast as the female lead, in her second Telugu film after the unreleased ''Love 4 Ever''. Amitabh Bachchan was confirmed to play an important role, in his Telugu film debut as he had previously only made cameo appearances in ''Manam'' (2014) and '' Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy'' (2019). Ashwin stated that his role was "so important that his character's name shwatthamawas the working title of an early draft". Kamal Haasan also joined the film in an important role, while Disha Patani was also cast in an important role. The film marks their return to Telugu cinema after '' Cheekati Rajyam'' and ''Loafer'' (both 2015), respectively.

Rajendra Prasad, Shobhana, Saswata Chatterjee, Brahmanandam, Pasupathy,. Anna Ben would also make her Telugu debut with this film. Keerthy Suresh and Arjun Das appeared in voice roles respectively; former as Bujji and latter as Lord Krishna. Initially, Keerthy Suresh was offered another undisclosed role, but she rejected it and later accepted the voice-role. 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. Dulquer Salmaan, Vijay Deverakonda, Mrunal Thakur, S. S. Rajamouli, Ram Gopal Varma and K. V. Anudeep briefly had respective cameo appearances.

Filming

Principal photography began with the first schedule on 24 July 2021, on the occasion of Guru Purnima, at Ramoji Film City in Hyderabad featuring Bachchan. Prabhas and Padukone joined the production in December 2021 and scenes featuring both the actors and Bachchan were shot. The second schedule of the shoot took place in February 2022. 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 actually 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. DIY Arri Alexa 65 camera was used to shoot the film, thus making it the first Indian film to use this technology.

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

However, the film was still being shot in March 2023 when Bachchan injured his ribs and was advised to take rest in Mumbai. Around 70% of the filming was completed by June 2023. On 20 July 2023 at 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. However, the Hindi version is reportedly mostly dubbed. A romantic track featuring Prabhas and Disha Patani was filmed in Italy in March 2024 including at the Royal Palace of Caserta.

Post-production

The film features visual effects by the studios DNEG and The Embassy Visual Effects. These studios also collaborated with StealthWorks Taiwan, Folks VFX, Lola Visual Effects, Pixstone Images and Labyrinth.

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. 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.

Music

The music of the film was composed by Santhosh Narayanan. The audio rights of the film were acquired by Saregama. The first single titled "Bhairava Anthem" was released on 16 June 2024. Three more singles— "Theme of Kalki", "Ta Takkara (Complex Song)" and "Hope of Shambala"—followed on 25 June 2024, 29 June 2024, and 4 July 2024 respectively. The entire soundtrack album was released on 10 July 2024.

Marketing

The film's first look was released on 19 July 2023. ''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.

On the occasion of Maha Shivaratri, the makers released a poster revealing Prabhas's character as '' Bhairava''. 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. On 27 April, the makers announced the new release date with a poster featuring Prabhas, Amitabh Bachchan and Deepika Padukone. 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. 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.

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. 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. 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. The official trailer of the film was released on 10 June 2024. 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. 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. The release-trailer of the film was released on 21 June 2024. 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. Additionally, an interview conversation featuring Prabhas, Bachchan, Haasan, and Padukone, along with the producers, was also released on YouTube.

Release

Theatrical

''Kalki 2898 AD'' was released in Telugu, Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada and English. The film was initially planned to be released in 2022, but was delayed to 9 May 2024 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and unfinished production works. It was, however, postponed again from 9 May to 27 June, owing to the 2024 Indian general election.

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 . Pre-bookings started in the UK, Canada and in Germany on 11 June 2024, two weeks before the film's release. After the trailer was released, the advance booking for the film in the US crossed over US$760K. 20,000 tickets were sold for the film's premiere in the UK. Pre-bookings in the US crossed US$1 million in fewer days than S. S. Rajamouli's ''RRR'' (2022), thus becoming the fastest Indian film to achieve this feat.

Film festivals

The film was invited to 'Open Cinema' at the 29th Busan International Film Festival and will be screened at the outdoor theater in October 2024.

Distribution

Dulquer Salmaan's Wayfarer Films acquired the distribution rights in Kerala for ₹6 crores. KVN Productions acquired the distribution rights in Karnataka for ₹30 crores, while the distribution rights for North India were acquired by Anil Thadani of AA Films for ₹100 crores.

Pre-release business

According to Indian trade sources, ''Kalki 2898 AD'' achieved a pre-release business recovery of ₹600 crore, with the sale of satellite, digital, music and theatrical rights, out of which, ₹390 crore was earned from the theatrical rights. The overseas distribution rights of the film were acquired by The Village Groupe for ₹80 crore.

Home media

The post-theatrical digital streaming rights were acquired by Amazon Prime Video at a cost of , while the Netflix acquired the rights for . The satellite rights were acquired by Gemini TV. The film premiered on Amazon Prime Video on 22 August 2024 in Telugu along with Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada dubbed versions while the Hindi dubbed version was released simultaneously on Netflix.

Reception

Box office

''Kalki 2898 AD'' grossed ₹180 crore worldwide on its opening day, which was the third highest first day gross for an Indian film, with over ₹95 crore gross from India. The film recorded the biggest opening for an Indian film in 2024. The film almost crossed ₹250 crore in two days, earning ₹149.3 crore from India. ''Kalki 2898 AD'' debuted in third place at the worldwide box office, behind '' Inside Out 2'' and '' A Quiet Place: Day One'' in their opening weekends. It grossed an estimated ₹484 crore worldwide from its opening weekend of four days, and ₹800 crore in 11 days of release. It became the fourth highest-grossing Indian film of all time in India, surpassing Shah Rukh Khan's '' Jawan'' (2023) in 40 days. During its theatrical run of over 50 days, the film has grossed ₹1,028–1,200 crore worldwide against a production budget of ₹600 crore.

Critical response

While '' Deccan Chronicle'' mentioned mixed reviews and WION reported that ''Kalki 2898 AD'' "failed to impress" critics, '' India Today'' commented that the reviews were positive.

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." 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." 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." '' The Guardian'' gave a rating of 4 out of 5 and cited that the film is "maximalist sci-fi epic mixes '' Mahabharata'' with '' Mad Max''". 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." ''Collider'' in its review stated that "''Kalki 2898 AD'' is a unique sci-fi epic that successfully combines supernatural elements with cutting-edge technology", while appreciating performances of the lead cast particularly Prabhas and Bachchan, and the screenplay by Nag Ashwin.

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." 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." 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." 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."

Bunbury of '' Deadline Hollywood'' wrote that "It is terrific, cathartic fun – and, given that Vishnu’s next avatar has apparently yet to be born, what is described in the marketing blurbs as the Kalki Cinematic Universe can be expected to rage, burn and rip-roar for a good few editions yet, leaving audiences happily flattened with exhaustion" and praised Nag Ashwin's work. B. V. S. Prakash of '' Deccan Chronicle'' gave 3/5 stars and wrote "Director Nag Ashwin had a reason to cast big guns like Amitabh and Kamal to carry unthinkable roles and it paid off." Saibal Chatterjee of '' NDTV'' gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote "It falls back on the sheer sweep of mounting and execution to make up for what lacks in terms of the writing." Sangeetha Devi Dundoo of ''The Hindu'' wrote "Despite these shortcomings, ''Kalki'' is a brave new attempt that deserves big cheers." 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."

Future

In late May 2024, it was reported that the film would have a sequel. On 26 June 2024, a day prior to the film's release, Ashwin commented on ''Kalki 2898 AD: Part 2'' and stated that it would begin in three years. During mid-credits of the film, it was revealed to be part of a media franchise named Kalki Cinematic Universe which had earlier been teased in '' Bujji and Bhairava'', a prequel series released prior to the film. On 29 June 2024, producer C. Aswani Dutt announced that 60% of the filming for ''Kalki 2898 AD: Part 2'' has been completed, with several major segments still remaining to be shot.

See also

* Science fiction films in India
* Indian military fiction
* List of science fiction films of the 2020s
* 1000 Crore Club

Notes

References

External links

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{{Nag Ashwin

2020s dystopian films
2020s fantasy action films
2020s fantasy adventure films
2020s Indian films
2020s science fiction adventure films
2020s science fiction war films
2020s Telugu-language films
2020s Western (genre) science fiction films
2024 3D films
2024 science fiction action films
4DX films
Apocalyptic films
Cross-dressing in Indian films
Cyberpunk films
Demons in film
Epic fantasy films
Films about ageing
Films about artificial intelligence
Films about bounty hunters
Films about curses
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Films about genetic engineering
Films about holography
Films about immortality
Films about orphans
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Films about reincarnation
Films about robots
Films about water scarcity
Films adapted into comics
Films adapted into television shows
Films based on the Bhagavata Purana
Films based on the Mahabharata
Films directed by Nag Ashwin
Films postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic
Films scored by Santhosh Narayanan
Films set in deserts
Films set in the 29th century
Films set in the 3rd millennium
Films set in the 4th millennium BC
Films set in Uttar Pradesh
Films shot at Ramoji Film City
Films shot in Campania
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Indian 3D films
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