Kalki 2898 AD review: Nag Ashwin’s sci-fi Kalki 2898 AD is everything you expect it to be. There are flying vehicles, sophisticated weapons, an evil overlord, a selfish but ultimately kind-hearted hero, a damsel-in-distress and a seemingly indestructible protector. This proves to be the film’s boon and bane, both. 

Kalki 2898 AD story

Bhairava (Prabhas) and his AI droid sidekick BU-JZ-1 aka Bujji (Keerthy Suresh), want to earn enough units by bounty hunting to have a better life in the Complex than the grimy Kashi. He might seem like a selfish prick on the surface, but he’s capable of love, despite what Roxie (Disha Patani) thinks. In his mind, he only hears classical music when thinking about the Complex or food.

Supreme Yaskin (Kamal Haasan) has a god complex and rules his kingdom with an iron fist. Fertile women are nothing but gestational ovens for the mysterious Project K. SU-M80 (Deepika Padukone) is one of the many who might end up giving her life to bring this experiment to fruition. Elsewhere, Ashwatthama (Amitabh Bachchan) is waiting to be reunited with his Shivamani (a gem on his forehead), so he can heed the call to protect Kalki.

The rebels and refugees of Shambala, led by Mariam (Shobana - who gets a kicka** fight scene), believe in the legend of Amma (mother), who will give birth to a baby that will right everything wrong with the world. The scales begin to tip when the contrasting worlds of the privileged and the underprivileged collide in a world filled with those who have and those who don’t.

Kalki 2898 AD review

Kalki 2898 AD is the kind of visual spectacle that keeps you hooked for 3 hours only for you to confirm what you already know. That’s both a good and bad thing. On one hand, it’s gutsy of Nag to attempt something like this for what is only his third film. He does enough for you to get lost in the world and believe there’s a future where women have no autonomy on their bodies and men would only care about capitalistic gains. A world where economic disparity has only become worse.

On the other, there are a few sci-fi and dystopia tropes he can’t escape no matter how hard he tries to mask them. Even if a spaceship is named Garuda, it’s still a spaceship you’ve seen in numerous sci-fi films before. After a while, you’re not that excited by the laser beams shooting out of 3D-printed weapons; you want to see more human drama.

But Kalki 2898 AD presents a heady mix of mythology and dystopia that works for the most part. The scenes from Kurukshetra don’t stand out like a sore thumb, mainly because they help you fit the puzzle pieces together for what’s happening 6000 years later. The film's first half leaves you wanting, but the second half truly helps accelerate the tale and set up more for further instalments.

Amitabh, Kamal steal the show

More than anything, Kalki 2898 AD is the story of Ashwatthama redeeming himself after attempting to end the Pandava lineage by sending his Brahmastra towards Uttara’s (Malvika Nair) womb. Even as Krishna curses him to spend an eternity understanding his folly, he gives him a chance at redemption. And boy, does Amitabh steal the show as Ashwatthama.

The fight scenes in Kalki 2898 AD, especially ones that require a lot of VFX or are in close quarters, are staged a little oddly. You can’t escape the feeling of it all happening on a sound stage.

However, the same can’t be said for Ashwatthama’s fight scenes. All 8 feet of him moves almost like a choreographed dance, even as he’s tearing the enemy to shreds. There’s a grace to him even as he’s chucking concrete towards Bhairava’s head. One particular fight sequence between him and Bhairava-Bujji underlines how much of an expert the mythological character is at fighting. He is Drona’s son, after all.

This is also the story of Supreme Yaskin and his thirst for power. Kamal might have limited screen time, but he will send a chill down your spine every time he’s on screen. And the film’s final moments give a glimpse of what’s to come - and it won’t be pretty. Yes, Prabhas and Deepika are adept at what they do. Prabhas is even hilarious in some scenes. But you can’t help but focus on these two giants on-screen.

Needed a little more focus

Nag makes the same folly most filmmakers do when they have a follow-up film. They drop hints and expect you to wait a few more years to watch another film to get the answers. While the prelude of the film, Bujji & Bhairava, answered a lot of questions about how the world of Kalki 2898 AD functions, the film doesn’t do much to add to it. Yes, it’s exciting to see Bhairava’s backstory and what the future holds for him, but the runtime should have been tighter.

It’s fun to see familiar faces play cameos - some of which are completely inconsequential to the story. Some self-referential jokes might also go over people’s heads, especially if they aren’t Telugu. To Nag’s credit, he gives the war you anticipate throughout the film instead of taking the lazy way out. But at the end of it all, you can’t help but wonder if he could’ve used some of the runtime with the side characters to focus on the core story at hand.

In conclusion

Kalki 2898 AD might not be flawless, but it’s gutsy and intriguing enough to be watched on-screen. Nag has always excelled at human emotion (Yevade Subramanyam, Mahanati), and this film works because of that. As fun as it is to see a superhero-style sci-fi film from Telugu cinema to pushes the boundaries of what can be done, it works because you care about some of these characters. Here’s hoping the sequel is even bigger and better.

Note: Reviewer watched the film in its original Telugu language.

TeluguCinema

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