The highly anticipated Kalki 2898 AD has hit the theatres with an ensemble cast that includes Prabhas, Amitabh Bachchan, Deepika Padukone, Saswata Chatterjee, Dulquer Salmaan, Disha Patani, Keerthy Suresh and Kamal Haasan. Directed by Nag Ashwin, this film is the modern retelling of Mahabharata taking a handful of characters into account.
Basic Plot- Supreme Yaskin, a 200 year old God like ruler of the dystopian world of Kashi in the year 2898 AD rules from the Complex, a large inverted pyramid above the city. Supreme Yaskin has initiated Project K, which aims at producing a potent serum for Yaskin, made from a five month foetus. What follows is an adventurous journey of Sum 80 (a Project K subject), the Shambala kingdom, Ashwatthama and Bhairava (a bounty hunter) towards their personal goals.
Positives
Story and Concept
Director Nag Ashwin has conceptualized the story pretty well with hardly any flaws unlike other dystopian world, post apocalyptic films which generally have half baked stories. The fusion or rather the modern retelling of The Mahabharata is seamlessly done to enhance the overall appeal of the providing it Indian roots. The contrasting themes of science fiction and mythology have been blended properly which makes for an interesting watch without the viewers complaining about the film being made for kids as is the case with several other ambitious sci fi films in India. The story, although consisting of a handful of characters of Mahabharata, keeps the film on the track and it's the story that keeps the film up and going.
Amitabh Bachchan and Kamal Haasan
Amitabh Bachchan has once again proved his acting caliber, and this time as the immortal Ashwatthama. Although his character properly gets into the story only in the second half, you realize it's his capable shoulders that mostly lift the film in every scene. You would surely feel bored whenever Mr Bachchan isn't on the screen and such is the magnetism that he has. It's his character and dialogues that bring a sense of urgency and purpose to the whole setup, without which things would've gone wrong. Kamal Haasan as Supreme Yaskin also nails his character. He has only a 10 minute role in the film and he manages to shine in the limited time. His character has a lot of intensity which Haasan portrays brilliantly on screen and we get to know that his character will be entirely unveiled in the upcoming sequels.
Technical Aspects
For an ambition as high as the story of Kalki the technical department has to be strong enough to execute things as intended, and Kalki doesn't dissapoint in that regard. It's a proper big screen spectacle made only for the big screens. The visual effects are stunning which really elevates the film even in the dullest of scenes. The viewers get a proper experience of the ailing world, the poor side of Kashi the super powered Complex, as well as the holy and secret town of Shambala. The camerawork has been nice with several well shot scenes. The vfx and camera work really do set up a Mad Max level world.
Underwhelming Aspects
Performances
While Amitabh Bachchan and Kamal Haasan have hit things out of the park and Deepika Padukone (owing to her capability) has successfully pulled off a character who had nothing much to do except for being tensed, Prabhas and Saswata Chatterjee have been the biggest letdowns. Prabhas is in post Baahubali 2 era throughout the first half and his mannerisms becomes repetitive after a certain time. His entry is as casual as it gets, and so are his other scenes in the first half. His entire chemistry with Disha Patani is obnoxious at best. You would really need patience to bear his performance in the first half. Nonetheless, he puts up some real performance in the last forty minutes of the film which saves the show. His screen presence is utilized to the fullest only in the last minutes of the second half. Saswata Chatterjee just doesn't fit into the character of Commander Manas. He's neither terrifying, nor dangerous. His dialogues aren't effective and you just wish for his character to die as early as possible.
Editing and first Half
The first half is a total lackluster as nothing goes the right way. The editing is bad at best as you simply don't understand the reason of stretching some already long and unnecessary scenes. The dialogues don't work, and the conversation between Prabhas and his AI supercar Bujji which were planned to be comical, ended up being weird. The comedy doesn't work and so does the romance. The film also has a romantic track which has absolutely no relation to the screenplay whatsoever after which Disha Patani just disappears from the film never to be seen again. The action in the first half is uninteresting. There are plenty of action scenes in the first half which go on like a boring routine, and there are absolute no moments where you enjoy the action. Average has also been the direction especially in the first half, with everything going wrong except for the visuals. It's really a challenge to sit through the entire first half as it's utterly boring except for a handful of Amitabh Bachchan scenes.
Conclusion
Kalki 2898 AD is a spectacle film which excels in more than one departments. Director Nag Ashwin is known for building up drama in a way better than others, and that's what he unexpectedly does here. Apart from some whistle worthy scenes of AB, it's the sheer drama which carries the film in places where you'd expect action (like the interval and climax). The decision of casting powerhouses like Amitabh Bachchan and Kamal Haasan seems perfect as the do the unthinkable in the film and make it bankable enough. Although the film doesn't utilize his screen presence in most cases and also keeps him away from screen for a significant amount of aggregate time, kudos to Prabhas for being a part o this film without whom the budget would be stunted to a great extent, diminishing the director's vision.
Watch Out For
Unexpected cameos by Ram Gopal Verma and SS Rajamouli
WTF Recommendation
7/10
