‘Kalki 2898 AD’ Review.!
The arrival of Kalki is one of the most curious parts of Hindu mythology I’ve known from childhood. Mahabharata, Ramayana and all are past events, but Kalki is a prophecy. Therefore, I was waiting for an adaptation of Kalki for years. This is the biggest reason why I waited for ‘Project K’ right after its announcement.
Coming to the movie, Two areas were top notch : Making & Acting. Such a big world was presented in a believable way and that deserves a big applause. A Visual Spectacle Indeed !! Sr Bachchan ji at the age of 81 amazed the audience with his portrayal. Be it acting, characterisation or even fights, the fact that he is the oldest in the group, yet ahead of anyone else just proves again why he is a legend!! Mahabharata portions were so epic! A lot of thrilling sequences, some of which were never expected to be seen on the big screen in such a way was mindblowing… Not just SS Rajamouli, now Nag Ashwin also proved he has the potential to make a full fledged Mahabharatha Adaptation. It is possible in Kalki Universe as a prequel. Overall Acting & Performance, no one seems to have done a bad job. Deepika, Shobhana, Anna Ben, Pasupathi… all decent portrayals. And you know Kamal, his proper arrival will be on the sequel, this was just a glimpse to his character Supreme Yaskin.
Comedy Portions of Prabhas & Keerthy were a negative. But this was expected and a few audience who have watched Buji & Bhairava animated series might find it just fine. Mostly for the reaason that if such a dark & serious story is taken as that alone, the chances of this film being successful in India will decrease, especially since it is the first film in the franchise. Cameos were all just cherry on top. Everyone appears for just seconds. But every moment was cheerful for audience and loved the way it all placed. This movie is mostly made on the model of Hollywood franchise movies. Nag himself had said that Star Wars, Dune and MCU were inspired in making the universe. Therefore, some obvious scenes from there were seen here too. That was one of the negatives.
Also the way they connected each plot point was really good. It is something that Indian commercial movies often miss. Usually most of it have plain stories rather than interconnected brilliant plot points. Music by Santhosh Narayanan could’ve been better. Like Baahubali, there was scope to bring a little more epic level. Hoping he’ll deliver sequel far better. Some fights had issues, especially first half. But second half had better ones. Shoutout to Malayalam Dub which was excellent, especially the comedy scenes. Salaar Malayalam Dub was a letdown, but Kalki had a wonderful dubbing. There is nothing much interesting about 3D, Expected to see some effects and 3D focused scenes like Brahmastra or Vikrant Rona but nothing at all.
Kalki2898AD is an experience never to be missed at the theatre despite the usual formulaic narrative at places. Even if you buy a ticket just to watch portions of Mahabharata, it’s worth it. So don’t miss it. Waiting for the sequels…
Compiled By Sree Nandan