‘Kalki 2898 AD’ Movie Review: Prabhas, Deepika Padukone and Amitabh Bachchan’s Sci-Fi Film Is Far From Perfect but Impresses With Nag Ashwin’s World-Building (LatestLY Exclusive)

Kalki 2898 AD Movie Review: Well, you could say Kalki 2898 AD is the best mega-budget film made in India after SS Rajamouli's RRR. You could also say it is the best Prabhas film since Baahubali 2. While it may not be as good as those films, it is hard not to appreciate the kind of vision and world-building director Nag Ashwin brings into his magnum opus Part 1. Despite its derivative elements, his ability to pull off the entire visual spectacle without making you cringe (looking at you, Adipurush) or making it snooze-worthy (looking at you, Salaar) deserves plaudits. ‘Kalki 2898 AD’ Review: Early Reactions Label Prabhas, Deepika Padukone, and Amitabh Bachchan’s Sci-Fi Film ‘Cool’ and ‘Captivating’.

Kalki 2898 AD begins right in the ruins of the Kurukshetra War when Ashwatthama sends the Brahmastra into Uttara's womb and is cursed by Lord Krishna (whose face remains hidden, perhaps until the sequel) to roam as an immortal until the end of Kaliyuga. Despite the scene borrowing the visual style of Zack Snyder's 300 and a de-aged Amitabh Bachchan looking oddly expressionless and fake, the intro scene is quite impactful. The Mahabharata is revisited in the third act, featuring a star cameo and a decent character twist. Given the quality of these scenes, I want Nag Ashwin to throw his hat in the ring if the Mahabharata is ever re-adapted for the big screen.

The film then moves forward 6000 years into a dystopian future, where Earth has been ravaged by genocides and nuclear war, and the only remaining city is Kashi. Kashi is divided into two regions: the seedy town-side where the poor and criminals live, and the 'Complex' where the rich and elite reside, owning more than one million units, which houses an advanced civilisation that even managed to clone a sabretooth tiger. The Complex also houses Supreme Leader Yaskin (Kamal Haasan), an emaciated-looking but extremely powerful 2000-year-old being searching for a special serum from the wombs of specially impregnated women that meets certain conditions.

Watch the Trailer of Kalki 2898 AD:

His commander-in-chief Manas (Saswata Chatterjee) does his bidding, like finding fertile women to get them pregnant or cracking down on rebels seeking to end Yaskin's rule by finding their hidden abode, Sambhala.

'Kalki 2898 AD' Movie Review - Prabhas as Bhairava

Prabhas plays Bhairava, a bounty hunter focused on self-preservation who dreams about being part of the Complex. His favourite companion is his talking vehicle, Bujji (voiced by Keerthy Suresh). Bhairava is an anti-hero role—imagine a more selfish Star-Lord—and Prabhas is decent here, bringing some energy that has been missing in his past couple of releases. However, after an action-packed intro scene, his portions, especially in the first half, are weaker when compared to the rest of the main characters. Particularly, the track with Disha Patani (who simply disappears without explanation, possibly returning for the sequel) could have been trimmed or fully excised. Even the comedy track with Brahmanandam passes muster. There is a strong attempt to appease the star brand of the actor with wink-wink meta jokes and a certain cameo from Mr Rajamouli, which doesn't always work and even feels out of place in a movie like this.

Prabhas fares better in the second half, especially during his prolonged fight scene with Ashwatthama. He gets a more kickass sequence in the finale that ties his character to the film's larger lore. It also needs to be appreciated that Prabhas took on a role where we do not exactly root for him throughout, save for a bit in the finale.

'Kalki 2898 AD' Movie Review - Amitabh Bachchan as Ashwatthama

Hands down, the most badass character in the film is Ashwatthama. After being the best part of the reviled Thugs of Hindostan, it was fun to watch the veteran actor bring back more of that gusto in here, and the director smartly tailored the role so as not to reveal where the dupe ends and the actor begins in the fight sequences.

In fact, the best scenes in the movie belong to him, including the Mahabharata scenes. The costume design is most appreciated for this part, and I am curious to see where the sequel will take him.

'Kalki 2898 AD' Movie Review - Deepika Padukone as Sumathy

As one of Yaskin's lab subjects, Deepika Padukone's character forms a crucial part of the plotline, who gets mysteriously pregnant despite being labelled 'infertile'. It is an emotionally vulnerable part, and thanks to how the character is written, Deepika doesn't really get to stand out compared to some of her co-stars, though she gets a sly 'Mother of Dragons' moment in the film's piquing interval block.

Since she is supposed to give birth to the film's yet-to-appear title character, the proposed sequel could feature a lot more of Deepika.

'Kalki 2898 AD' Movie Review - Kamal Haasan as Yaskin

As for Kamal Haasan, the National Award winner only has two scenes in the movie, yet they are worthy of building up the hype around his antagonist role. Honestly, I was not a fan of his intro scene. Ashwin did a good job of making us understand why he needs to be feared. However, the CGI used to create the character doesn't allow an actor like Kamal to show that menace performative-wise, particularly with the eyes, though he does his best to bring the menace with his baritone.

Let's say I liked the second scene, which comes just before the closing credits, much, much better.

'Kalki 2898 AD' Movie Review - The Supporting Cast and Cameos

Regarding the supporting cast, they range from 'why-are-you-here', like Disha Patani and Brahmanandam, to almost scene-stealing. Shobana is fine as Mariam, the guardian-mother of Shambala, and even gets to kick some ass in the third act. Pasupathy is decent as Veeran, the faithful commander of the rebels. Anna Ben is quite likeable in her limited screentime, making you wish the film had more of her instead of Patani's character. Saswata Chatterjee, as the General Hux to Kamal's Snoke, brings enough evil smarminess to what is a thinly written role.

There are some celebrity cameos too, nearly all of them fan-baity. But I would like to see more of a certain Telugu star, who appears as Arjuna in two scenes, in the sequel.

'Kalki 2898 AD' Movie Review - Impressive Special Effects and BG Score

Speaking from the film's technical purview, I was pleasantly surprised that Kalki 2898 AD managed to stand on its own, even when influences from certain space-faring Hollywood blockbusters like Star Wars, Dune, and Guardians of the Galaxy are evident. Nag Ashwin's world-building has plenty of familiarity, but it doesn't feel like a turn-off, and the blend of mythology and science fiction doesn't jar this time for a change. There are some scenes where the green screens are evident, but otherwise, it is quite impressive VFX work.

Another major asset for the movie is Santosh Narayanan's background score, with highlights in the scene before the interval and in the climax.

'Kalki 2898 AD' Movie Review - The Drawbacks

Yet for its appreciable world-building and a couple of entertaining scenes, I wasn't blown away by Kalki 2898 AD as much as I expected. A major blame for this falls on the screenplay and editing. There is too much buildup character-wise and plot-wise, saving the best for the sequel, so except for Ashwatthama, you don't really care much for the other characters, including the protagonist, Bhairava. Save for the bit in the finale, I was not even sure why we needed to follow this character.

The structure feels disconnected at times, with a few redundant scenes that should have been pruned to make the film tighter. It is hard to ignore the feeling that the whole movie is a grand setup for the next, particularly with how it ends, and I am not a fan of such a tactic. The respite here is that at least Kalki 2898 AD does that aspect better than, say, Salaar. Salaar Part 1 - Ceasefire Movie Review: Prabhas-Prashanth Neel's Film is All About Buildup, Buildup and, Sigh... Buildup!

And yes, while I wasn't repulsed by the lack of originality in how certain scenes were ideated (we have light sabers, blaster-gun fights, and levitating pods), I cannot deny that these scenes rob the film of a genuine identity and even mass appeal.

'Kalki 2898 AD' Movie Review - Final Thoughts

Kalki 2898 AD stands out as an ambitious and visually impressive film that does a commendable job of showcasing Nag Ashwin's grand vision. While it may not reach the heights of RRR or Baahubali 2, the movie offers a striking blend of mythology and science fiction. The world-building and VFX are admirable, and Santosh Narayanan's score elevates the experience. However, the film suffers from a disjointed and derivative narrative, underdeveloped characters, and a screenplay that feels more like a setup for a sequel than a standalone story.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 27, 2024 02:08 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).