Kalki 2898 AD Review: The Force Is Strong

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, applauds Sukanya Verma.

I’m suspicious of anything that comes with the ‘most expensive movie ever made’ tag.

These big-budget, bombastic extravaganzas are so consumed by scale they forget to let their hair down.

But the force is strong with Nag Ashwin’s Kalki 2898 AD whose Hollywood dystopia-meets-Hindu mythology gig is a welcome offering on the shuddh desi sci-fi action fantasy front.

Clearly fanboying at Star Wars and Mad Max: Fury Road in its aspirations, Kalki 2898 AD’s visual pizzazz and wizardry takes cues from everything between Avengers and anime. But Nag Ashwin’s world-building is most gratifying when following its own path and roots.

Set centuries after the Kurukshetra battle, earth wears a ravaged face from the devastating effects of years and years of war and violence.

An elite autocratic organisation called Complex reigns supreme over Kashi, the sole survivor of this catastrophe and secretly reaps in the fruits of privilege leaving the poor to languish and the rebels to retaliate in the tradition of Elysium, Star Wars, the ilk.

Although a cruel commando Saswata Chatterjee (playing a despot with wry humour) does most of his bidding, it’s the elusive Supreme Yaskin (Kamal Haasan), he and his fleet of homegrown stormtroopers show deference to.

Yaskin’s creepily celestial aura evokes a wild mix of Dune’s Baron Harkonnen, Dr Strange’s Ancient One and Watchmen’s Doctor Manhattan, Doc Ock, Neo, all sorts of mish-mash yet always its own beast.

Kalki 2898 AD builds on his intrigue even as Haasan’s ease for oddities is perfect for the part.

Part of Complex’s exploitation programme includes harvesting fertile women like lab rats for extracting a special serum, which is mysteriously connected to Supreme Yaskin’s health. Somewhere in this part of the building resembling an honeycomb dwells SUM-80 (Deepika Padukone), an experiment turned blessing.

Before boons can bear fruit, Kalki has curses to deal with, especially the one of immortality that Krishna casts on Ashwatthama (Amitabh Bachchan) as a punishment for his brahmastra blunder during the Kurukshetra war.

Saving the baby growing inside SUM-80 is part of his atonement and rescuing humanity from the clutches of Complex.

Hope lies hidden in the hush-hush sanctuary of Shambala run by its caring matriarch Mariam (Shobhana), evoking a Princess Leia-ish figure from the latter instalments of Star Wars.

It's obvious the makers expect the viewers to be reasonably well-versed in Mahabharat to appreciate the subtle details or figure the motives of its key players, drawn from two of the most tragic albeit flawed heroes of the epic, Karna and Ashwatthama. What unfolds like a big reveal to the unversed is simply a case of connecting the dots.

Even if one doesn’t know the nitty-gritties, there’s ample ammo in Nag Ashwin’s arsenal to keep the audience fired up about what’s in store, whether you watch it in Telugu or Hindi.

A running time of three hours is a daunting prospect and Kalki 2898 AD’s indulgences and excesses prolong the conflict for far too longer than required in its excitement to overstuff the narrative in flashbacks and back stories teeming in dispensable characters (Disha Patani serves little purpose except as a distraction), star-studded cameos (from Team Baahubali, Team Mahanati and a one truly trippy surprise) and elusive theories (for the convenience of future movies).

Except the movie is providing so much fun with its add-ons, it doesn’t hurt to play along.

Comfortable as ever in larger-than-life biggies, Prabhas puts his commanding presence to good use as burly Bhairava -- a money-minded Han Solo unwilling to pick sides even if his AI pilot and cargo ship are a long way off from Chewbacca or Millenium Falcon.

The strapping star 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.

Watching the veteran in action at 80-plus is exhilarating.

Armed with shuddh Hindi and towering charisma he energises the screen as an undying presence. Lifting half a dozen on his shoulders, VFX enabled though it may be, is still a robust sight of the man who immortalised the idea of Saari duniya ka bojh hum uthate hain.

Birth-giver of heroes and avatars, be it Azad of Jawan or the unborn God growing in her womb in Kalki 2898 AD, Deepika Padukone has mastered the art of conveying purposefulness so poignantly, she ends up looking significant even in a passive part.

What’s always buzzing on screen is the nimbly choreographed action and mythological drama enhanced by striking production design and impressive VFX, highlighting the battle between Tron blues and Sith reds against an ensemble of actors thrilled to realise the potential of Nag Ashwin’s ambition.

Bummer then, there’s no conclusion in sight.

Kalki 2898 AD’s spectacle set in a timeline far, far away is just the beginning of a franchise that’s got a whole lot of dramatic confrontations, spirited battles and mythical madness on its mind.