#Kalki2898AD Review

#Kalki 2898AD

2024-Telugu/Tamil/Hindi

Starring : Prabhas, Kamal Hassan , Amitabh Bachchan, Deepika Padukone, Saswatha Chatterjee, Pasupathi, Brahmanandam, Anna Ben and Shobhana 

Directed by Nag Ashwin

Plot : Following 6000 Years after Mahabharata Battle , Ashwatthama who is cursed by Krishna to protect his reincarnation at the end of Kali Yuga. Parallely, Sum-80 a Pregnant Woman from the Higher Command known as the Complex is being chased by Complex Commander. In between this battle , Bhairavaa , a Bounty Hunter enters the scene. Who is Bhairava? Who is Sum-80 and how are these two connected with Ashwatthama forms the rest of the story.

Performance wise , Prabhas has done a fairly good job. Though his performance in First half was just passable, it is delightful to see him in a cool and fun role after ages. His Second Half Transformation and performance fared much better than first half. Amitabh Bachchan as Ashwatthama is the show stealer. His stellar performance carries the movie largely. Kamal Hassan as Supreme Yaskin gets a Cameo Role and has done a terrific job. Though he's merely in just 2 scenes, the eerie background and his peculiar voice modulation makes it scary. Deepika Padukone as Sum-80 gets a fantastic role as the film revolves around her character totally. Though her character doesn't have much of a emotions to display , the Damsel in Distress situation was pulled off fantastically. Saswatha Chatterjee as Commander Manas performs on a clean line between a Serious Antagonist and Funny One properly. His one-liners land properly and make the audience laugh.Anna Ben in a Small yet Powerful Cameo is really good. Pasupathi and Shobhana get a decent role and have performed decently. Disha Patni was literally wasted after one scene and she literally disappeared from the film without a trace. Good Comedy Scene by Brahmanandam.While there are tons of cameos , some felt powerful and those cameos made that role more impactful whereas some cameos were merely there for fun and almost had zero impact on the plot . Not going to spoil the Cameos and not going to talk about their performance.

Technically, the Film is a Visual Masterpiece. The Elephant in the room , the VFX is terrific with minuet detailing and terrific depth for the effects. The City of Kashi, Shambala ,The Deserts and finally the Complex are designed in a wonderful way that comes out as a visual wonder. 99% of the Sequences have wonderful vfx , but 1% some sequences have very very few amateur vfx . Due to this unfinished/ amature shots , Editing by Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao felt a bit off in very few sequences due to abrupt cut . Barring that , Editing was great. Cinematography by Djordje Stojiljkovic was fantastic. As the majority sequences were shot in green screen and sets, the angles and visual coverage are fantastic. Santhosh Narayanan's Songs are passable whereas BGMS are terrific! Especially in the Second Half towards Climax , SaNa has done a great job. Special Mention to the Mahabharat Sequence VFX anr De-Ageing of Big B that were nearly perfect.

While the First Half moves at a very slow pace, it intends to build the world , intro or each Characters and their motives. Except for Pre Interval, Prabhas scenes in 1st Half doesn't create much of an impact and feels merely like a filler scene. While Kamal's Intro and Deepika 's Track intro felt apt, remaining first half narration feels very flat and doesn't induce much curiosity untill the pre Interval. The First 20 mins Mahabharat sequence were terrific but beyond that the film's first half lags.

The Second Half takes off from that with a Desert Chase and since that the film moves on a very fast pace. The Scenes are built terrifically and there are no unwanted scenes in 2nd Half as each and every scene connects to the next scene. The Last 40 mins in a new location are just visual treat and can be seen as one of the best Climax fights of the this decade.

On the Downside, The Film lacks Emotional Depth . Audience were supposed to root for the lead or leading lady but unfortunately that doesn't happen. Due to lack of emotional depth , audience couldn't emotionally connect with the characters or root for them. Also Character design of Bhairava was very perplexed and gawky as it was not clearly designed of what are the reason for his intentions. Though it might be said to believe that is indirectly understood, there could've been some valid reason. Also the film suffers from predictablity at places. 

Coming to Writer- Director Nag Ashwin. Man has done a fantastic job as Director. His vision and creativity was really out of the box and man almost pulled off exactly what he wanted to. This film is definitely one of the best Visual Masterpiece films produced in India for sure. But, the same can't be said for Writer Nag Ashwin. While Nag has managed to create a visually Stunning world where SciFi blends with Mythology, the writing could've been much stronger and sharper. The Mythology references are great but writing somewhat didn't feel completely and felt like he reserved largely for Second Installment. 

Highlights :

1)First 15 Mins Mahabharata Portions

2)Setup and Complex Sequence 

3)Desert Chase Sequence 

4)Shambala War Sequence 

5) Outstanding Performance by Kamal Hassan and Amitabh Bachchan 

6)Post Credit Scene

Overall : Kalki 2898 AD is a visual masterpiece that lacks coherent writing and strong emotional connect but the Visual Extravaganza and out of the world performance by Amitabh, Kamal , Prabhas (last 20 mins) and Deepika makes up for it. Watch in the Biggest Screen possible to get engulfed in the world of Kashi in 2898.

Rating : 3.75-4/5

Television Rights : -

Digital Rights : Amazon Prime