The set of director Nag Ashwin’s Telugu film is set up in Shankarpally on the outskirts of Hyderabad. Kalki 2898 ADStarring Amitabh Bachchan, Prabhas, Kamal Haasan and Deepika Padukone. At one end is the entrance to the mythical land of Shambala. Walking up a flight of white stairs, Nag Ashwin says this is one of his favourite spots on the set. On many evenings, he would watch the sun set from these stairs. A part of the set has been damaged by rain and will be rebuilt for the sequel. For now, it’s a short break for him and his team. A day before leaving for a vacation, he agreed to this exclusive interview.
Looking at the land on which the Shambala sets are built, Nag Ashwin explains, “We spent a lot of time conceptualising and creating colonies for people of different nationalities and religions inside Shambala; it was like planning a city.” Shambala is depicted as a haven for people of different castes and religions, who come together in the hope of a new dawn. “It is a microcosm of people looking for hope,” he says, referring to characters like Rumi (Rajendra Prasad), Mariam (Shobhana), Kaira (Anna Ben), Veeran (Pasupathy) and many others.
Nag said that he had also considered beginning the film with the events in Shambala, but later opted for the Kurukshetra portions that depict Ashvatthama’s plight.
The hidden land of Shambala or Shangri-La has been part of folklore in Tibetan and Indian culture. The impenetrable Himalayan range that paves the way to reach the entrance of Shambala symbolizes this belief; for book and movie lovers, it also presents the image of the hidden kingdom of Wakanda (black Panther) The railway station walls which form the way to Platform No. 9¾ are visible. harry potter series. “Some of these ideas were part of our subconscious thinking in the planning stage, because of what we had seen or read. By the time we made our plans and created the storyboards, people had become familiar with Wakanda, but it was too late to change things. However, Indian literature is also full of references to Shambala appearing at a certain time near Kailas; some people believe that Shambala is within Kailas.”
Kamal Haasan as Supreme Yaskin in ‘Kalki 2898 AD’ | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Kalki 2898 AD An ambitious blend of the Mahabharata and dystopian science fiction, Nag Ashwin is glad that the film has piqued the desire of audiences, especially children and young adults, to learn more about the Indian epics. Star Wars Being a fan of Marvel superhero films both while growing up and after, he Kalki Intended to appeal to my ten-year-old self, but with a uniquely Indian perspective.
“The idea of reimagining Kashi as the last surviving city was an interesting one to start with,” says Nag. The film’s production designer Nitin Zihani Chowdhary explained to this writer that the place inhabited by Ashwatthama, the people of Kashi and the complex were designed to show how the gods were underground while evil forces or demons ruled from above the complex. “Walking on this surface, imagine if we start thinking about what would happen if there is an ancient person from another era below the surface. It’s the opposite of the norm in terms of what we were trying to portray about Kali Yuga,” says Nag.
The first part of this Kalki teased the audience about the creepy ways of Supreme Yaskin (Kamal Haasan) and his Project K. The murals that lead to his chamber depict the evolution of mankind. Located at the centre of the womb-like structure, Yaskin is on the threshold of another transformation. “Our idea was to present Yaskin as a mysterious, shadowy figure. Much more about his backstory and his purpose will happen in the second part. For now, we want the audience to know that Yaskin’s experiment has made him a superpower but he has also created his own enemy; this starts a chain of events. It is a classic story of a villain creating his own enemy.”
While the film is being talked about for its dramatic and fantastical plot in which Ashwatthama meets Bhairava, the avatar of Karna (Prabhas), to save an unborn child who brings hope in a shattered world and thus seeks salvation, it has also given rise to questions and theories. Nag is aware of the theories on social media that try to decode the film. “It’s nice that some people think of Dulquer Salmaan’s character as Parashurama,” he laughs. He wrote about Dulquer as a pilot who nurtures an abandoned child, which is a parallel to Karna being raised by a charioteer. “We didn’t think of Dulquer’s character as Parashurama, because Parashurama is depicted in the epics as the person who teaches Kalki
Deepika Padukone, Prabhas and Amitabh Bachchan in ‘Kalki 2898 AD’ | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
One of the biggest highlights of the film is Amitabh Bachchan as Ashwatthama, an eight-foot tall ancient hero. For the technical team, making it all believable was a challenge. “Good visual effects are something that is not to be seen. The planning starts from the writing stage. Later, we went back and forth 20 to 30 times for certain VFX shots for Ashwatthama and other portions. Sometimes, I would say the texture of the sand doesn’t look real or something far away in the background needs to look more realistic. When I saw the film, I realised that some of these were passing shots and most people wouldn’t even know it was VFX. It was a good job.”
The visual experience has been praised a lot and Nag believes that he has managed to make a film with technical details. Ask him how he selects his technical team, for example the cinematographer, and he says, “To a large extent, it depends on instinct.” For Danny Sanchez-Lopez greatness And for Djordje Stojiljkovic Kalki Nag explains that when they were working with him, they were both working on their second feature film project. “Djordje is young and I felt he had a unique eye, just like Dani. We wanted to use that freshness and see what we could achieve. We might lose something in terms of experience but gain something else because young technicians don’t strictly follow the rules of the game.”
Nag hopes that this technical prowess and storytelling, Kalki Attracting international audiences beyond the Indian diaspora. “I think they will be keen to see our stories, the way we are interested in Greek and Roman stories.” When asked if there are plans to boost marketing along the lines of SS Rajamouli RRR On the global stage, he says, “we have to see how much interest naturally arises and then take that forward; it has to include both things.”
Solution to some minor problems
The science of the complex: “We wanted to show how the complex has taken away all life-sustaining elements like air, food and water. Maybe a simple voiceover would have helped, but I decided not to do that because I hate voiceovers.”
Where is Roxy (Disha Patani)? “We had some more parts that would have defined her character better, but we couldn’t accommodate it. There will be a conclusion for her in the next part.”
Party Song: “I know some people feel that the depth of the story got lost because of a few minutes in the first half. Looking back, maybe we shouldn’t have chosen to do a whole song and dance to introduce Bhairava and the audience to what’s inside the complex. It was a bit crowded. Prabhas fans are loving his dance steps, but we too didn’t like it. Honestly, for the sake of storytelling, the song could have been avoided. I think we were trying to balance a lot of things.”
Cameo: The film has many cameos and some of them have stirred up a certain amount of controversy even as they entertain. “Ram Gopal Varma’s cameo helped establish how an egg costs 5000 units in Kashi. But by then we had explained that there was a shortage of food and water, so some viewers might find it repetitive.”
Fun facts: Did you know that Amitabh Bachchan’s voice in Telugu movie is generated by AI?
Nag Ashwin with his car ‘Bujji’ | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Before release greatnessFor the biopic of late veteran actress Savitri, Nag Ashwin had told this writer that he wanted to tell stories and make films that have a lifespan and make an impact in some way. Yevade Subramanyam which traces the journey of a self-centred protagonist to the mythical Doodh Kashi to introspect on life, KalkiBeing only his third film, it has been a mammoth task for him. Nag admits that he sometimes wonders why he can’t make things easier for himself.Kalki It has been a challenging project as the complexity and scale of things grew, demanding more from us. But ever since I started all this, I couldn’t sit for long and think ‘why did I do all this?’.”
A stress-relieving solution comes in the form of an animated prequel series Bujji and Bhairava“It was fun to write and execute. We have two more episodes coming out in a few months.”
related to Kalki Part two, the team will regroup and start planning in a couple of weeks; it’s going to be big.” Yaskin is stepping down VimanamSo obviously it will be bigger.” Part two will also introduce a fourth world, the ‘Flux Lands’, in addition to Kasi, the Complex and Shambala. “We have barely mentioned the ‘Flux Lands’, which will be explored.”
