Mumbai, Sep 19 (IANS) “Kalki 2898 AD” has been praised for blending elements of the Mahabharata with science-fiction and director Nag Ashwin, who is already working on the film’s sequel, is confident that Indian mythological stories, if told right, can match the complexity of the Western superhero genre.
Starring Amitabh Bachchan, Kamal Haasan, Prabhas and Deepika Padukone, the film has become a money-spinner at the box office at a time when big-budget films have failed.
Is “Kalki 2898 AD” India’s answer to Hollywood’s Marvel and DC Studios’ superhero movies?
“I don’t know if that’s an answer, but we definitely have stories and depth, complexity and heroism that aren’t in any other Marvel or DC movie. We just have to dig deep into it and tell it the right way.”
“If we tell it the way today’s generation is used to, like mixing science-fiction in it, I think that would be the right way. And it has really worked because people have started to feel that it is our story,” Ashwin said in an interview to PTI.
Set in the futuristic city of Kashi, the story revolves around Bachchan’s immortal warrior Ashwatthama, who is trying to protect the next incarnation of Lord Vishnu, raised by Padukone’s Sumathi. Prabhas’ Bhairava, a bounty hunter, is sent to find her by Haasan’s antagonist Supreme Yaskin.
He said that a sequel to “Kashi 2898 A.D.” is already in the works. He said that it will be an extension of the story, which feels familiar and fresh.
“They’ve seen these familiar things in ‘Star Wars’ and Marvel movies, but it’s still Kashi. It still has an auto on its roads. It’s like all the worlds have come together… You don’t want to feel derivative, you don’t want to feel like it’s Blade Runner. It should look like Kashi, not like Tokyo.”
Some of the scenes in the film have been compared to recent Hollywood films, whether it be the “Mad Max” films or “Dune”.
However, the director said that apart from the desert scenes, there were no similarities between his film and the two Hollywood films.
“I love ‘Star Wars’ … there must be something subconscious about it. The other movies don’t have that, except our movie has a desert and ‘Dune’ and ‘Mad Max’ have deserts.”
“Also, it has nothing to do with the story, technology or design. Having a funny robot sidekick was probably a ‘Star Wars’ thing. Maybe making the vehicles look old and rusty was also an aesthetic,” he said.
The box office success of the film has crossed the Rs 100 crore mark. Ashwin, who has been living this story for the last five years, said touching the Rs 700-crore mark globally has brought “relief and gratitude” as the team has given a lot for it over the years.
Like any other child growing up in the country, the director said he too was familiar with the characters of Mahabharata through books and the famous 1988 serial, but he read the entire book when he started working on the film.
Ashwin said the epic is better than “our best stories” because even the weakest characters have strong backgrounds and depth.
He said, “I always wanted to reimagine it for our generation and also keep the simplicity. For example, these guys are not wearing any crowns. It’s a small thing, but I found that it would be impractical to wear a crown while going to war. The armour is also designed differently.”
The idea behind creating the story was to evoke the “sense of wonder” that he felt as a child when he was first introduced to stories, said the director, who previously directed the National Award-winning “Mahanati”.
“If I had seen it as a kid, I would have had a lot of questions about vehicles and other things. I just wanted to make it for this generation.”
Asked if the anger inherent in Bachchan’s character was a tribute to the ‘angry young man’ roles he played in the 70s, Ashwin said it must have come subconsciously.
“But Ashwatthama was known for his short temper and was a fierce warrior. All these things came together and Bachchan sir was a perfect fit for the role.”
Amitabh Bachchan was the first person to hear the story of the film and he asked several questions.
“I think he was the first person I narrated it to in a really raw and elementary form. He completely understood what it was but he wasn’t sure how we were going to accomplish it. He said, ‘You’re showing me all these things and pictures but how are you going to do this? How is this possible?’ So, it took him a while to believe.”
Haasan also had to put in a lot of effort to play the role of Supreme Yaskin.
He said, “We went back and forth several times. By the time we spoke to Kamal sir, we had already shot part of the film… Kamal sir is always up for doing something new and challenging. So, we had to narrate the story several times to make sure. He’s the villain, so he just had to make sure that we knew what we were doing.”
“Kalki 2898 AD”, which is made on a reported budget This film, costing Rs 600 crore, was a difficult one as the script itself went through 11-12 drafts and took a year.
“It was a difficult film to make and a difficult one to write. Forget the actors, it’s always difficult to write a screenplay when you have so many characters, world building and what not and you try to cram it into a feature film.”
Produced by Vyjayanthi Movies, the film released on 27 June in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Hindi and English.
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