Nag Ashwin on viewers calling first half of Kalki 2898 AD slow: It's been a universal response
Nag Ashwin's Kalki 2898 AD
Filmmaker Nag Ashwin is happy with the response that his new film Kalki 2898 AD has been receiving. The film has grossed over Rs 7 billion at the box office worldwide and is the biggest film of the filmmaker's career. Reacting to the film's glorious run at the box office, Ashwin in a recent interview said that the film's success will now encourage other directors to explore the sci-fi genre.
“A movie like this is beyond us. The ambition was bigger in the sense, that there was a larger thing at stake than just us. Many makers were waiting for the result of this sci-fi film. If it didn’t work, it would have closed doors for more years.”
The director, however, is conscious of the feedback or criticism from viewers. Many termed the film's first half boring and long. Ashwin said, "It has been a universal response that people found the first half slow, and it’s very valid. In a three-hour film if viewers liked two hours and 54 minutes, I will take that.”
Kalki 2898 AD: Nag Ashwin lists his favourite scene from the film and it features Deepika Padukone
Kalki featured a stellar cast comprising Amitabh Bachchan, Prabhas, Kamal Haasan and Deepika Padukone. Recalling how the production begun during the pandemic and it was “tough to get the finances” in place for the film, he shares, “Luckily, we did have the biggest star cast of our country, so we had a little bit of a cushion there. Plus the previous films we (the producers) have done together, worked, so there was goodwill on that front.”
Made on an expensive budget, Nag Ashwin's 3D film Kalki 2898 AD is touted as the most expensive film to be produced in India at a reported budget of Rs 600 crore (7,18,70,940USD). The mythological and sci-fi action film released in Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, Hindi and English. Produced by Vyjayanthi Movies, Kalki 2898 AD stars Amitabh Bachchan, Kamal Haasan, Deepika Padukone, Prabhas, Disha Patani, Saswata Chatterjee and Shobhana among others.
After a good response at the box office, Kalki 2898 AD will have a sequel, confirmed the director. In a recent press conference, Ashwin told the media that he would like to make another film to take the story forward. He said that as the film has four main characters – Bhairava (Prabhas), SU-M80 (Deepika), Ashwatthama (Amitabh) and Supreme Yaskin (Kamal) - he wanted to do them all justice. “I soon realised that fitting four characters into one film was not manageable. It had its challenges. There is a lot of action and backstories that have yet to be explored, and they will be in the sequel. We still have a lot of shooting, even casting for new characters, left to do,” he said.
WION's review of Kalki 2898 AD
In her review, WION's Film critic Shomini Sen wrote, "Written by Nag Ashwin, the film has taken huge references from Dune, Star Wars, Mad Max: Fury Road, Blade Runner and even Marvel movies. It's a slow first half and an unnecessary subplot involving Disha Patani and Prabhas's forced romance and gallivanting around the complex." Read the full review here.
