Kalki 2898 AD movie review: Two and half stars out for five
Director Nag Ashwin’s Kalki 2898 AD is a jumbled mix of sci-fi mythology action drama. It does conclude with a satisfying if not surprising reveal that an alert audience will see coming. But at the three-hour runtime end, I was left fuming at the many boring diversions the Nag Ashwin-Rutham Samar screenplay took before getting to the main story. When they finally do get down to business, it’s just about good, if not disappointing.
Kalki 2898 AD story
In the year 2898 AD, Kashi is the last city in the world. An inverted anti-gravity pyramid complex contains all of the world’s resources. Ruled by the airborne-over-dark-water-chamber supreme leader Yaskin (Kamal Hassan), one needs to earn one million units to enter ‘The Complex.’
Meanwhile, rumours of Lord Vishnu’s tenth reincarnation – Kalki, is doing the rounds. Enter bounty hunter Bhairava (Prabhas), who will do anything to fulfill his ‘The Complex will be my new home’ dreams. Also hovering around is the cursed-with-immortality Ashwatthama (Amitabh Bachchan), waiting for over 6000 years to play protector. Will Kalki be born when forces are out to get him?
Kaki 2898 AD: The good, the bad, the boring
The good: Super special effects and production design does reveal Nag Ashwin’s impressive sci-fi vision. But for a couple of scenes, the special effects really stand out, as do the costumes, weapons and locales.
Strong main character: Ashwatthama (Amitabh Bachchan) is easily the best written character. The urgency and gravity of what is at stake hits when he is on screen. There is a story arc to Ashwatthama that no other character is laced with. He is the only character I felt anything for.
The Mahabharat scenes: Though brief, the Mahabharat scenes that open the movie and form parts of the climax is almost cinema perfection. Special effects, story, characters, production design blend seamlessly in these scenes. I wondered if Nag Ashwin would have pulled off a Mahabharat story adaptation superbly, considering how good the Mahabharat parts are.
Performances: Amitabh Bachchan steals the show, the special effects adding to his literally towering presence. Prabhas is good as the laidback bounty hunter. Kamal Hassan, despite the brief role, and lost under CGI, stills makes an impression. Deepika Padukone is earnest as the mother everyone is after, for good and bad reasons.
Technical sparks: Djordje Stojiljkovic’s cinematography keeps us invested in the undoubted visual spectacle Kalki 2898 AD is. Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao’s editing is sharp, though clearly, he didn’t have a say in the final edit.
Exciting core idea: Though far from pulling it off, but in production design, and in the well-choreographed Bhairava-Ashwatthama fight sequences, there is no denying – Nag Ashwin has an exciting core sci-fi-Indian-mythology that can be expanded upon.
Good music in parts: Though Santhosh Narayanan’s background score doesn’t knock it out, the Ashwatthama bits and the Ashwathamma-Bhairava fight sequences are nicely scored.
The bad: The screenplay takes unnecessary diversions throughout the first half. Some are so bad, I had to hold my face in despair. Instead of just sticking to the Ashwatthama-Sumathi-Destined Child-Yaskin-Bhairava progressions, it goes into strange directions. We get that Bhairava is casual and cool. How many lazy, almost embarrassing action scenes do we need to establish that?
Cold cameos: The cameo appearances are lame distractions. The Roxie (Disha Patani) part is the most bewildering part of Kalki 2898 AD. Suddenly, the distant, mysterious complex becomes a dreamland for Bhairava, because Roxie works there. There is no explanation as to how an inaccessible place, becomes instantly tourist friendly, with barely any security. It is so jarring, that I wished it was a dream sequence. It was not to be. The Kyra (Anna Ben) sequence and what follows is contrived with a capital C.
The Ram Gopal Varma cameo has no spark, the Dulquer Salman bit is flat writing, the Rajamouli part has a good inside joke, but it doesn’t go with the movie’s apocalyptic dark world. The movie could have easily been 20 minutes shorter and sharper. Why take the audience away from an engaging doomed world spell with strange cameos?
Building up to boredom: Things are more focused in the second half, but not as tense and intense, when the stakes are about the world’s future. The final battle is not as tight either, only the big reveal saves it. A trimmer cut could have made for a more credible, satisfactory flick.
The boring: The damning parts that bring Kalki 2898 AD down – Apart from Ashwatthama I hardly feel for any characters. Even Ashwatthama needed more writing to add textures to his 6000 years of cursed immortality. Sumathi’s character is at the center and yet, she feels more like a prop than a person we would invest our emotions in.
Uninventive action: Kalki 2898 AD needed sharper, intense action, quite simply. But for a couple of moves, nothing is WOW. This from a movie four years in the making.
Kalki 2898 AD movie review
But for the stunning creation of a futuristic Kashi, amazing visuals, largely amazing CGI, the fantastic Mahabharat parts, some cool fight moves, few of the first half comedy bits, Kalki 2898 AD is mostly underwhelming. This was clearly a screenplay that needed a hundred redrafts before they got on with it.
It is an exciting central idea that needed sharper, focused telling. Probably Nag Ashwin will take us right into the story in the next part, instead of a half-baked, confused, hazy character arcs. Amen?
(Article by Snehith Kumbla)
The writer viewed the Hindi dubbed version of Kalki 2898 AD.