Kalki 2898 AD (pronounced [kə.l.kɪ]) is a 2024 Indian Telugu-language epic science fiction film directed by Nag Ashwin and produced by Vyjayanthi Movies. The film stars an ensemble cast including Amitabh Bachchan, Kamal Haasan, Prabhas and Deepika Padukone. Inspired by Hindu scriptures, it is the first installment in a planned Kalki Cinematic Universe. Set in a post-apocalyptic world in the year 2898 AD, the film follows a select group on a mission to save Kalki, the unborn child of SUM-80, a lab subject.

The film was officially announced in February 2020 under the tentative title Prabhas 21, as it is the actor's 21st film in the lead role and was later changed to working title Project K. Principal photography commenced a year later in July 2021 due to COVID-19 pandemic. It was shot sporadically in several legs over the next three years, and wrapped by late-May 2024. The official title was announced in July 2023. The film has music composed by Santhosh Narayanan, cinematography handled by Serbian cinematographer Djordje Stojiljkovic and editing by Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao. Made on a ₹600 crore (US$72 million) production budget, it is the most expensive Indian film.

Kalki 2898 AD was initially scheduled to release on 9 May 2024, but was postponed due to unfinished production works. It was released worldwide on 27 June 2024 in standard, IMAX, 3D and 4DX formats, and set several box office records for a Telugu and Indian film.

Plot

In 3102 BC, following the Kurukshetra War, Ashwatthama attempts to kill Uttarā's unborn child by invoking the Brahmashirastra, a godly weapon of unimaginable destruction. For committing the act, Krishna, the 8th reincarnation of Vishnu, curses him to roam the earth as an immortal and witness humanity's misery as a result of societal and moral deterioration in the Kali Yuga. His divine gem is also taken from his forehead, and his redemption is destined to occur through protecting the mother of Vishnu's next reincarnation, Kalki, towards the end of Kali Yuga.

In 2898 AD, six thousand years after the events of the Kurukshetra War, the desertified city of Kasi stands as the last known city in a post-apocalyptic world dominated by Supreme Yaskin, a totalitarian god-king. Yaskin rules from the "Complex", an inverted-pyramidal-megastructure that hovers above the city, extracting Earth's resources to sustain a gated paradise accessible only to those who can pay 1 million "units". His authority is enforced by Commander Manas, Counsellor Bani and the Raiders, who vigilantly guard against threats, particularly the prophesied arrival of Kalki.

In this dystopian society, fertile female refugees in Kasi are forcibly taken to the Complex for Project K, an experiment aimed at producing a life-extending serum for the 200-year-old Yaskin through artificially inseminated foetuses. However, no woman survives more than 120 days of pregnancy, resulting in their deaths. Raia, a young girl disguised as a boy, narrowly escapes conscription with the help of rebels led by Rumi from the hidden city of Shambhala. Rumi and Divya, a pregnant woman believed to be carrying Kalki, are captured and publicly executed by Manas for refusing to reveal Shambhala's location. After Manas sets a bounty on Shambhala rebels, Raia finds refuge in a cave where she encounters Ashwatthama. She unknowingly brings him his divine gem, Shivamani, which has been found by and passed on among the Shambhala rebels. Together, they set out to find the real mother of Kalki.

SUM-80, a Project K subject hiding her 150-day pregnancy, is eventually ousted and captured. Manas extracts a single drop of serum from her foetus before the procedure is interrupted by Lilly, a Shambhala rebel posing as a Project K subject. Lilly helps SUM-80 escape the lab, but stays behind to hold off the Raiders. SUM-80 is received by Veeran, Kyra, and Ajju, Shambhala rebels contacted by Lilly. Kyra renames SUM-80 as "Sumathi". En route to Shambhala, their convoy is ambushed by bounty hunters and Raiders after Manas places a bounty on Sumathi. Though they fend off the attackers, Kyra is killed.

Bhairava, a bounty hunter aiming to secure Sumathi's bounty to enter the Complex, remains in pursuit with his AI supercar, Bujji. Ashwatthama learns through his gem that Sumathi’s unborn child is Kalki. Despite Bhairava's efforts, Ashwatthama subdues him and the party reaches Shambhala, where the tree of life blooms in Kalki's presence. Bhairava makes a deal with Manas to capture Sumathi in exchange for his entry into the Complex.

Bhairava discovers Shambhala by deceiving a rebel, Luke, and disguises himself as Ashwatthama by using his hologram technology. He convinces Sumathi to flee Shambhala, but they are intercepted by the real Ashwatthama. As they fight, Shambhala's leader, Mariam, attempts to take Sumathi away to safety. Manas and the Raiders track Bhairava to Shambhala and breach its defences with a beam weapon provided by Yaskin. The Raiders overwhelm the Shambhalan army, and Mariam is killed. Manas chains Ashwatthama but Bhairava accidentally wields Ashwatthama's walking stick, which is actually Karna's (Aswatthama's brother) bow, Vijaya Dhanush.

Karna, now revealed to be reincarnated as Bhairava, temporarily awakens in Bhairava and defends Sumathi and Ashwatthama against the Raiders. Bhairava uses the bow to rescue Sumathi and kill Manas. Ashwatthama, recognising his brother, breaks free, but Bhairava reverts to his former self due to a distraction caused by Bujji and takes Sumathi away. Back at the Complex, Yaskin is informed of Manas's failure by Counsellor Bani. He uses the extracted serum to transform into a much younger superhuman. He picks up Arjuna's bow, Gandiva, and declares to personally capture Sumathi and her child to reshape the world.

Cast

Production

Development

After the success of Mahanati in 2019, Nag Ashwin stated that he had been working on an original story, for which screenplay he used a long time on. He also stated that the production would begin soon. The project would be funded by C. Aswani Dutt's Vyjayanthi Movies, which also funded Mahanati. The company announced on 7 August that the production would begin in September and posted a casting call for various artist positions. On 26 February 2020, coinciding the occasion of 50th year since the establishment of Dutt's house, Prabhas was announced to be the lead actor. Tentatively titled Prabhas 21, production would begin after the actor completes filming for Radhe Shyam (2022). The film was made on a production budget of ₹600 crore, and Prabhas was reported to receive ₹150 crore (US$18 million) as his remuneration.

The actor, however, reportedly decided to take the revenue sharing model, receiving ₹80 crore as advance, and a chunk of the profits would be given to him as remuneration. In February 2021, it was reported that the filming would begin in March; however, Ashwin during the promotions for his short film in Pitta Kathalu (2021) stated that due to the COVID-19 pandemic and Prabhas' prior commitments, the filming would commence at the latter half of the year. The film's official title, Kalki 2898 AD, was announced on 21 July 2023. It is a reference to Kalki, an avatar of Hindu deity Vishnu in the Hindu eschatology, according to the Bhagavata Purana, and 3102 BC – traditionally thought to be the beginning of Kali Yuga after the Mahabharata War (the film being set 6,000 years into the Kali Yuga, the era of the asura/demon Kali).

Pre-production

Ashwin co-wrote the film's script along with Rutham Samar, Sai Madhav Burra and B. S. Sarawagna Kumar, in his second consecutive film with Samar and Burra after Mahanati. A muhurat pooja ceremony was held on 24 July 2021 at Ramoji Film City in Hyderabad with the presence of the film's cast and crew. The working title was revealed to have been changed to Project K the same day. Ashwin stated that the film needed high-end technology and futuristic vehicles to be developed for the film. Although they can be recreated using computer-generated imagery (CGI), the director opted to build these vehicles from scratch.

In March 2022, Ashwin requested businessman Anand Mahindra to provide technical support to build such type of vehicles. A few days later, Mahindra responded that their company Mahindra & Mahindra would assist the production team from their Mahindra Research Valley campus in Chennai. In July 2021, the makers erected a futuristic set at Ramoji Film City in Hyderabad where a significant portion of filming is expected to take place. A. R. Rahman had been initially approached, in August 2020, to compose music for the film but the talks fell out.

Ashwin retained most of his technicians, including composer Mickey J. Meyer, editor Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao, production designer Nithin Zihani Choudhary, cinematographer Dani Sanchez-Lopez, costume designers Thota Vijay Bhaskar, Shaleena Nathani and Sahithi Patha. However, Serbian cinematographer, Djordje Stojiljkovic, replaced Dani Sanchez-Lopez as the official cinematographer of the film. In February 2023, Dutt stated in an interview that Santhosh Narayanan replaced Meyer as the composer, along with a female Bollywood composer composing a song for the film. Andreas Nguyen was chosen as the stunt choreographer of the film. Singeetam Srinivasa Rao joined the project to serve as a mentor.

Casting

Prabhas would sport long hair and beard, with reporters reminiscing his look in the film with Baahubali. Deepika Padukone was cast as the female lead, in her second Telugu film after the unreleased Love 4 Ever. Amitabh Bachchan was confirmed to play an important role, in his Telugu film debut as he had previously only made cameo appearances in Manam (2014) and Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy (2019). Ashwin stated that his role was "so important that his character's name [Ashwatthama] was the working title of an early draft". Kamal Haasan also joined the film in an important role, while Disha Patani was also cast in an important role. The film marks their return to Telugu cinema after Cheekati Rajyam and Loafer (both 2015), respectively.

Rajendra Prasad, Shobhana, Saswata Chatterjee, Brahmanandam, Pasupathy, and Malvika Nair would play prominent roles. Anna Ben would also make her Telugu debut with this film. Keerthy Suresh and Arjun Das appeared in voice only roles respectively; former as Bujji and latter as Lord Krishna. Harshith Malgireddy, Kavya Ramachandran, Ayaz Pasha, Anil George, Keya Nair, Vinay Kumar, Venkata Ramana, Hamish Boyd and Sanghawa Shin were present during the film's preliminary shooting schedule. Dulquer Salmaan, Vijay Deverakonda, Mrunal Thakur, S. S. Rajamouli, Ram Gopal Varma and K. V. Anudeep briefly had respective cameo appearances.

Filming

Principal photography began with the first schedule on 24 July 2021, on the occasion of Guru Purnima, at Ramoji Film City in Hyderabad featuring Bachchan. Prabhas and Padukone joined the production in December 2021 and scenes featuring both the actors and Bachchan were shot. The second schedule of the shoot took place in February 2022. Instead of shooting the entire film in a single stretch, the team divided its 80–90 days of shoot into 7–8 days every month. This actually allowed the production team to take time and prepare the gadgets and props to be used in the film. Therefore, the production of the film was expected to take longer than usual. DIY Arri Alexa 65 camera was used to shoot the film, thus making it the first Indian film to use this technology.

Prabhas was expected to start filming his solo portions in April 2022, however, his knee surgery led to a delay of his upcoming projects including Salaar and Kalki 2898 AD. 90% of the shoot was done in sets built in Ramoji Film City. In June, Bachchan shot for a scene at Raidurg metro station. In July, Padukone and Prabhas shot for a car chase sequence in Hyderabad. Prabhas completed shooting the majority of his portions by the end of this schedule. Filming was expected to be completed by January 2023, following which post-production and visual effects works would take around 8 months.

However, the film was still being shot in March 2023 when Bachchan injured his ribs and was advised to take rest in Mumbai. Around 70% of the filming was completed by June 2023. On 20 July 2023 at the San Diego Comic-Con, Nag Ashwin revealed that while the film was mostly shot in Telugu, they were also reshooting some scenes in Hindi to make them more impactful. However, the Hindi version is reportedly mostly dubbed. A romantic track featuring Prabhas and Disha Patani was filmed in Italy in March 2024 including at the Royal Palace of Caserta. Principal photography wrapped on 28 May.

Post-production

The film features visual effects by the studios Prime Focus DNEG and The Embassy Visual Effects. These studios also collaborated with StealthWorks Taiwan, Folks VFX, Lola Visual Effects, Pixstone Images and Labyrinth.

DNEG and The Embassy created the film's environments and action sequences. The Embassy handled approximately 700 shots for the film and DNEG handled the principal visual effects and CGI shots for the film. Their tasks included creating a desert wasteland, futuristic vehicles for high-speed chases, utilising a broad range of VFX techniques, and creating 3 distinct worlds of: Kasi, Shambhala, and the Complex.

Music

The music of the film was composed by Santhosh Narayanan. The audio rights of the film were acquired by Saregama.

Marketing

The film's first look was released on 19 July 2023. Kalki 2898 – A.D became the first Indian film to be presented at San Diego Comic-Con's Hall-H on 20 July 2023, where the makers unveiled the official title and glimpse, this had been preceded by the release of a limited comic-strip panel of an important scene in the film between "The Raiders" (followers of Kali) and Bhairava.

On the occasion of Maha Shivaratri, the makers released a poster revealing Prabhas's character as Bhairava. A new teaser introducing the character Ashwatthama was unveiled on 21 April 2024. Inspired by the immortal character from the ancient Indian epic Mahabharata, Ashwatthama was portrayed by Amitabh Bachchan. On 27 April, the makers announced the new release date with a poster featuring Prabhas, Amitabh Bachchan and Deepika Padukone. On 30 April 2024, Prabhas took fans of cinema and cricket by surprise as he appeared as Bhairava for an IPL promotional video during Lucknow Super Giants vs Mumbai Indians. On 2 May 2024, Amitabh Bachchan appeared in his character of Ashwatthama where he delivered a motivational speech to the Indian cricket team as they prepare for the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024.

On 22 May 2024, in an event in Ramoji Film City in Hyderabad, a teaser introducing Prabhas' Robot sidekick AI humanoid vehicle "Bujji" was released. Anand Mahindra wrote that "we are so proud of Nag Ashwin and his tribe of filmmakers who aren’t afraid to think big" while he shared that the engineers at Mahindra Research Valley helped the Kalki 2898 AD team realise its vision for the futuristic vehicle. On 27 May 2024, the makers and Amazon Prime Video announced a two-part animated prelude, titled Bujji and Bhairava, which was released on the platform on 31 May 2024 as part of the Kalki Cinematic Universe. The official trailer of the film was released on 10 June 2024. Concept artists Sung Choi and Oliver Beck, the latter's from the artwork for Star Trek: Prodigy, alleged that the initial frames of the trailer used their artwork without permission or credits. On 19 June 2024, a pre-release event was held in Mumbai, with Prabhas, Amitabh Bachchan, Kamal Haasan, Deepika Padukone, Rana Daggubati, and the film's producers attending the event. The release-trailer of the film was released on 21 June 2024. The theme song of the film, "Theme of Kalki", was unveiled on the evening of 23 June 2024 in Lord Krishna's birthplace, Mathura, Uttar Pradesh, along the banks of the Yamuna river. Additionally, an interview conversation featuring Prabhas, Bachchan, Haasan, and Padukone, along with the producers, was also released on YouTube.

Release

Theatrical

Kalki 2898 AD was released worldwide on 27 June 2024 in variety of formats, including 3D, 4DX and IMAX. It was released in Telugu, Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada and English. The film was initially planned to release in 2022, but was delayed to 9 May 2024 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and unfinished production works. It was, however, postponed again from 9 May to 27 June, owing to the 2024 Indian general election.

Pre-bookings started in the United States on 6 June 2024, three weeks before the film's release. Nearly 4,200 tickets were sold on the first day of pre-bookings with a collection of US$135,000 (₹1.1 crore). Pre-bookings started in the UK, Canada and in Germany on 11 June 2024, two weeks before the film's release. After the trailer was released, the advance booking for the film in the US crossed over US$760K. 20,000 tickets were sold for the film's premiere in the UK. Pre-bookings in the US crossed US$1 million in lesser days than S. S. Rajamouli's RRR (2022), thus becoming the fastest Indian film to achieve this feat.

Distribution

Annapurna Studios acquired the distribution rights of the film in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana for ₹145 crore (US$17 million). Dulquer Salmaan's Wayfarer Films bought the distribution rights for Kerala, and Sri Lakshmi Films did so for Tamil Nadu. KVN Productions acquired the distribution rights for Karnataka.

Pre-release business

According to Indian trade sources, Kalki 2898 AD archived a pre-release business recovery of ₹600 crore (US$72 million), with the sale of satellite, digital, music and theatrical rights, out of which, ₹390 crore (US$47 million) has been earned from the theatrical rights. The overseas distribution rights of the film were acquired by The Village Groupe for ₹80 crore (US$9.6 million).

Home media

The digital streaming rights and satellite rights were acquired by Amazon Prime Video and Gemini TV, respectively.

Reception

Box office

Kalki 2898 AD grossed ₹180 crore (US$22 million) worldwide on its opening day, which was the third highest first day gross for an Indian film, with over ₹95 crore (US$11 million) gross from India. The film recorded the biggest opening for an Indian film in 2024. The film almost crossed ₹250 crore (US$30 million) in two days, earning ₹149.3 crore (US$18 million) from India. Kalki 2898 AD debuted in third place at the worldwide box office, behind Inside Out 2 and A Quiet Place: Day One in their opening weekends. It grossed an estimated ₹484 crore (US$58 million) worldwide from its opening weekend of four days, and ₹600 crore (US$72 million) in five days.

Critical response

While Deccan Chronicle mentioned mixed reviews and WION reported that Kalki 2898 AD "failed to impress" critics, India Today commented that the reviews were positive. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 80% of 25 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.2/10.

A critic for Bollywood Hungama rated the film 4 stars out of 5 and wrote, "On the whole, Kalki 2898 AD stands as a grandiose spectacle that depicts the future like never before in Indian cinema and also merges mythology seamlessly, thereby delivering a unique experience to the audiences." Chirag Sehgal of News18 gave 4/5 stars and wrote "It combines action with visual spectacle and mythology with technology and science – which makes the film worth watching." Goutam S of Pinkvilla gave 4/5 stars and wrote "If you are a lover of films which has a grand scale, epic narration, amazing visuals, groundbreaking performances, and unbelievable storytelling, then surely watch this feast of a movie in the screens near you." The Guardian gave a rating of 4 out of 5 and cited that the film is "maximalist sci-fi epic mixes Mahabharata with Mad Max". Janani K of India Today gave 3.5/5 stars and wrote "Like Baahubali, Kalki 2898 AD ends on a cliffhanger and paves the way for a new cinematic world altogether. The surprise cameos, even though leaked by Prabhas himself, were perfect theatrical moments." Collider in it's review stated that "Kalki 2898 AD is a unique sci-fi epic that successfully combines supernatural elements with cutting-edge technology", while appreciating performances of the lead cast particularly Prabhas and Bachchan, and the screenplay by Nag Ashwin.

Sukanya Verma of Rediff rated 3.5/5 stars and applauds "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." Ronek Kotecha of The Times of India gave 3/5 stars and wrote "The film’s visual quality is so high that it overshadows many of its obvious flaws by engaging the audience into the atmospherics of the make-believe world of Kasi and the Complex." Sashidar Adivi of Times Now gave 3/5 stars and wrote "Overall, the film is a VFX wonder. The setup and the universe are brilliant, however, the writing needs introspection." Avad Mohammed of OTTPlay gave 3/5 stars and wrote "On the whole, Kalki 2898 AD is a technically brilliant film with never-before-seen visuals in an Indian film. The presence of A-listers and amazing action episodes make for a big-screen watch. Just ignore the slow pace."

Bunbury of Deadline Hollywood wrote that "It is terrific, cathartic fun – and, given that Vishnu’s next avatar has apparently yet to be born, what is described in the marketing blurbs as the Kalki Cinematic Universe can be expected to rage, burn and rip-roar for a good few editions yet, leaving audiences happily flattened with exhaustion" and praised Nag Ashwin's work. B. V. S. Prakash of Deccan Chronicle gave 3/5 stars and wrote "Director Nag Ashwin had a reason to cast big guns like Amitabh and Kamal to carry unthinkable roles and it paid off." Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote "It falls back on the sheer sweep of mounting and execution to make up for what lacks in terms of the writing." Sangeetha Devi Dundoo of The Hindu wrote "Despite these shortcomings, Kalki is a brave new attempt that deserves big cheers." Neeshita Nyayapathi of Hindustan Times wrote "Nag Ashwin's dystopian film might not be flawless, but it’s gutsy and intriguing enough to be watched on-screen."

Future

In late May 2024, it was reported that the film would have a sequel. On 26 June, a day prior to the film's release, Ashwin commented on Kalki 2898 AD: Part 2 and stated that it would begin in three years. During mid-credits of the film, it was revealed to be part of a media franchise named Kalki Cinematic Universe which had earlier been teased in Bujji and Bhairava, a prequel series released prior to the film. On 29 June, producer C. Aswani Dutt announced that 60% of the filming for Kalki 2898 AD: Part 2 has been completed, with several major segments still remaining to be shot.

See also

• Science fiction films in India
• Indian military fiction
• List of science fiction films of the 2020s