Kalki 2898 AD: Fans think this is 'Zendaya-fication' of Deepika in new poster. Here's why

Is that Deepika Padukone or Zendaya? After a fresh new poster of the film Kalki 2898 AD dropped over the weekend, fans were left confused since it looked similar to another extremely popular film’s creatives, the Dune franchise. The colours, the theme, the costumes, everything looked a bit too familiar.

Also, both Kalki 2898 AD and Dune films are science fiction and have a similar template. Apart from the template, there were also close comparisons to how similar Deepika Padukone on the poster looked to Zendaya from Dune. The makeup, the unkempt hair and facial expressions, it all reminded fans of Zendaya’s character from Dune. Is this "Zendaya-fication" of Deepika Padukone, asked fans on social media among scores of other comparisons which flooded the internet.

Zendaya played Chani in the Denis Villeneuve science fiction film. The latest Dune film was released in theatres in March worldwide.

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Nag Ashwin’s Kalki 2898 AD is being made on a massive budget and promises to be something that the Indian audiences haven’t experienced before from their own studios.

What fans think of Deepika’s look from Kalki 2898 AD

Reacting to the Kalki 2898 AD poster, a user commented: “Why Deepika's character more look like Zendaya's character from Dune?” Another wrote, “Deepika is giving Zendaya vibe from Dune”.

There was another which joked about Deepika’s look from the poster as, “Poor man's Zendaya (laughing face emoticons)”.

Another fan posted, “Zendayafication of Deepika in Kalki poster.”

zendayafication of deepika in kalki poster 💀 pic.twitter.com/JHZ5QD7MLI — ح (@hmmbly) April 27, 2024

Why Deepika's character more look like Zendaya's character from dune ? https://t.co/e9N3LtyNO3 — Ranjan (@skrstark8318) April 28, 2024

What is Kalki 2898 AD?

Kalki 2898 AD stars Prabhas, Amitabh Bachchan, Deepika Padukone and Kamal Haasan in pivotal roles. The film will now be released on June 27. The new poster had Deepika, Prabhas and Amitabh standing in what looked like adesert-like setting.

Makers teased the new poster with the caption, “All the forces come together for a better tomorrow on 𝟐𝟕-𝟎𝟔-𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒.”

Earlier, Nag Ashwin talked about the inspiration behind the film at the Synapse 2024 event in Gurugram, and said: “The film starts with Mahabharat and ends in 2898 AD. It spans 6000 years in time. We tried to create worlds, imagining what they would be like while still keeping it Indian, and not make it look like Blade Runner.”