Kalki 2898 AD

Kalki 2898 AD is a 2024 Indian Telugu-language epic science fiction film written and directed by Nag Ashwin and produced by Vyjayanthi Movies. The film stars Amitabh Bachchan, Kamal Haasan, Prabhas, Deepika Padukone and Disha Patani. Inspired by Hindu scriptures, it is the first instalment in the planned Kalki Cinematic Universe. Set in a post-apocalyptic world in the year 2898 AD, the film follows a select group who are on a mission to save lab subject SUM-80's unborn child, Kalki.
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 US$72 million production budget, it is the most expensive Indian film ever made.
Kalki 2898 AD was initially scheduled to release on 9 May 2024, but was postponed due to 2024 Indian general elections. It was released worldwide on 27 June 2024 in standard, IMAX, 3D and 4DX formats. A commercial success, the film at the end of its theatrical run has grossed US$160 million and has set multiple box office records for an Indian and Telugu film. It is the highest-grossing Indian film of 2024 and is now officially the 4th highest-grossing film of all time in India among several other records for a Telugu and Indian film.
== Plot ==
In 3102 BC, following the Kurukshetra War, Ashwatthama attempts to kill Uttarā's unborn child. 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 only by protecting the mother of Kalki, Vishnu's 10th and final reincarnation, towards the end of Kali Yuga.
In 2898 AD, 6,000 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-pyramid megastructure that tovers above the city. His authority is enforced by Commander Manas, Counsellor Bani, and Raiders who 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 women has survived the procedure. Raia, a young girl disguised as a boy, narrowly escapes conscription with the help of rebels from the hidden city of Shambhala. 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 to her by the Shambhala rebels. Together, the duo set out to find the mother of Kalki.
Meanwhile, at the Complex, SUM-80, a Project K worker hiding her 150-day pregnancy, is outed and captured. Manas extracts a single drop of serum from her foetus before they are interrupted by Shambhala rebel. SUM-80 is rescued by Shambhala rebels and renames SUM-80 as Sumathi. En route to Shambhala, their convoy is ambushed by bounty hunters and Raiders. They fend them off.
Bhairava, a bounty hunter, remains in pursuit with his AI supercar, Bujji. Through his gem, Ashwatthama becomes aware of Kalki, Sumathi's unborn child, and intervenes. 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 disguising himself as Ashwatthama. He convinces Sumathi to flee Shambhala with him, but is 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. The Raiders overwhelm the Shambhalan army, and Mariam is killed by Manas. Manas then chains Ashwatthama, whose walking stick falls into the unconscious Bhairava's hand, where it get activated, and is revealed to be Karna's bow, the Vijaya Dhanush, revealing him to be a descendant or reincarnation of Karna, a warrior from the Kurukshetra War.
Empowered by Karna's bow, Bhairava undergoes a superhuman transformation, effortlessly defeating the Raiders and killing Manas. Distracted by Bujji, Bhairava returns to his former self and takes Sumathi away, as Ashwatthama looks on. Back at the Complex, Yaskin uses the serum drop extracted from Sumathi's foetus on himself, partially gaining the power of the unborn Kalki. He picks up Arjuna's bow, Gandiva, and pledges to personally capture Sumathi and her child to reshape the world.
== Cast ==
== Soundtrack ==
The music of the film was composed by Santhosh Narayanan. The audio rights of the film were acquired by Saregama. The first single titled "Bhairava Anthem" was released on 16 June 2024. Three more singles— "Theme of Kalki", "Ta Takkara (Complex Song)" and "Hope of Shambala"—followed on 25 June 29 June and 4 July respectively. The entire soundtrack album was released on 10 July 2024.
== 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 . Dulquer Salmaan's Wayfarer Films acquired the distribution rights in Kerala for 6 crores. N. V. Prasad's Sri Lakshmi Films acquired the distribution rights in Tamil Nadu for 16 crores. KVN Productions acquired the distribution rights in Karnataka for 30 crores, while the distribution rights for North India were acquired by Anil Thadani of AA Films for ₹100 crores.
===Pre-release business===
According to Indian trade sources, Kalki 2898 AD achieved a pre-release business recovery of , with the sale of satellite, digital, music and theatrical rights, out of which, was earned from the theatrical rights. The overseas distribution rights of the film were acquired by The Village Groupe for .
===Home media===
The digital streaming rights were acquired by Amazon Prime Video and Netflix while the satellite rights were acquired by Gemini TV.
== Reception ==
===Box office===
Kalki 2898 AD grossed worldwide on its opening day, which was the third highest first day gross for an Indian film, with over gross from India. The film recorded the biggest opening for an Indian film in 2024. The film almost crossed in two days, earning 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 worldwide from its opening weekend of four days, and in 11 days of release. The film crossed in 28 days. It became the fourth highest-grossing Indian film of all-time in India, surpassing Shah Rukh Khan's Jawan (2023) in 40 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. 
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 its 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 2024, 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 2024, 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.
== External links ==
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== References ==
Category:2024 films
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