Kalki 2898 AD Movie REVIEW: Prabhas-Amitabh Bachchan's Fight For Deepika Padukone's ‘Maa’ Is The Highlight Of The Mythology-Inspired Film
Nag Ashwin directorial Kalki 2898 AD stars Prabhas, Amitabh Bachchan, Deepika Padukone, and Kamal Haasan in pivotal roles
Nag Ashwin's much-awaited multilingual directorial Kalki 2898 AD, has finally graced the big screens after a long time. Set in a dystopian era, where a 200-year-old demon named Supreme Yaskin (Kamal Haasan) rules the world with his ‘complex’ setup in Kashi, the film follows the journey of Ashwatthama's (Amitabh Bachchan) plight to protect Maa (Deepika Padukone), who is about to give birth to God, who will save the world from further doom. So, brush up on your knowledge about Mahabharata, and let's look at how the movie fairs!
Kalki 2898 AD starts with Ashwatthama praying for the demise of the last Pandava heir, who is yet to be born. As he succeeds in killing the heir, during the ongoing Kurukshetra war, Lord Krishna curses him that he will live on forever and witness the world’s doom. However, there will be a point in time when the Lord will take birth again, it will be then that he will have to protect the mother and the child. 6000 years after Kurukshetra, humans are living in a dystopian world, having forgotten all about the current times, with only a hope of getting a chance to enter ‘Complex,’ situated in Kashi. As a set of people reach Kashi, they separate fertile girls from their family to take them inside the Complex, an inverted pyramid structure.
There is a growing rebel group which lives in Shambala, a world hidden behind the mountains, much like Wakanda in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The rebels have been waiting for ‘Maa,’ someone who will birth God. On the other hand, the makers introduce us to Bhairava (Prabhas), a chill bounty hunter who dreams of going to the Complex and live his best life. Well, after the debacles that Prabhas faced in the recent years, the movie will definitely give his career a boost. Bhairava gets a taste of what it would be like to live in the Complex because of his friend Roxie (Disha Patani).
It is also seen that the Supreme and his team have been impregnating fertile women so that a serum can be extracted from them. One of the infertile women, SUM-80 (Deepika Padukone), later named as Sumati, trapped in the Complex, turns out to be pregnant. Due to circumstances and help from a rebel, she escapes the Complex, to save herself and the her baby. As her bounty is announced, Ashwatthama rushes to save her and Bhairava rushes to capture her. A fight between the two breaks out which is certainly one of the plus points of the film as it is very well executed and directed. The 3 hour movie is definitely a treat to watch on the big screen.
The dystopian world created by the filmmakers spectacularly shows the difference between the luxurious Complex and the dilapidated houses the humans live in. One thing that strikes odd is the filmmaker’s decision to use AI to create a younger Amitabh Bachchan as Aswatthama for the scenes from the Kurukshetra war. One could have easily casted someone who has a similar stature as Bachchan. The scenes with the AI-created Aswatthama seem quite jarring. On the other hand, the shrivelled up version of Supreme gives you goosebumps and leaves you in awe.
The background music compliments the sequences well, especially using Bhairava Anthem sung by Diljit Dosanjh for Prabhas’ action sequences. Sung by Amitabh Bachchan, the first song of the movie encapsulates the gruesome happenings of the world which leave you devastated.
One of the other highlights of the film are certainly the cameos in the film. I will refrain from telling you more about it to let you enjoy their performance on the big screen. Nag Ashwin has certainly made sure that one is left gasping with excitement over the special appearances.
Talking about the performances, Amitabh Bachchan and Kamal Haasan steal the show with their performances. The veterans once again proved that the younger generations have much to learn from them. Their performance leaves you on the edge of your seat and their screen presence overwhelmed. Deepika Padukone’s portrayal of Sumati, a docile woman who only wants to protect her child, is also on-point. For a woman who has been kept away from the real world, the actress perfectly portrays the innocence and naivety of Sumati. The star of the film Prabhas is certainly back in an action-packed avatar and his interactions with Buji ( a robot voiced by Keerthy Suresh) are certainly adorable. As we come to an end of the review, Prabhas and Disha’s part seemed quite dragged out and irrelevant, with no contribution to the story.
All in all the film is a must theatre watch!
Ratings: 4.5/5
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