Kalki 2898 AD

I just watched Kalki and it's hard to express my disappointment.

First off, the movie is riddled with unnecessary comedic dialogues that feel completely out of place, especially given the supposedly intense theme. Prabhas, who is usually a powerhouse, sadly comes across as a CLOWNISH character here.

His performance is awkward and forced, making it difficult to take the film seriously. Kyra's character adds little value, with most of her screen time dedicated to pointless talks that drag the narrative down. The entire movie feels like it's overdoing everything-be it the action sequences, emotional moments, or the supposed "comedy," which is jarringly out of sync with the rest of the movie.

Kamal Haasan, despite being a legendary actor, has almost no role or screen presence. It feels like they used his name just to draw audiences, with no real contribution from him on-screen.

Additionally, the set-up blatantly borrows from Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) but fails miserably to capture the essence of the original. In the end, Kalki is a poorly executed, overhyped mess.

This one is a hard pass.

The soaring epicness of second part of the film and the excellent climax were tainted by bloated, boring and technically terrible first half. It had cringe dialogues, poorly choreographed action scenes and unnecessary subplots.

The props used throughout the movie looked like cheap foam. There was too much "inspiration" drawn from Hollywood movies.

The first attempt from Nag Ashwin is average at best. I hope he improves significantly in the second part of this film. To do so, he should focus on Mahabharata and adapt it as faithfully as possible. The sci-fi elements of the movie were most disappointing, whereas, the characters from the great epic were thoroughly exhilarating!

Right off the bat, I will say that the plot was superbly established, it made you feel the stakes. The main storyline originates from the Mahabharata so the creators really needed to push the boundaries on the execution, which I can say that they did but were they able to pull it off extraordinarily or were there shortcomings? Read on to find out.

I have attempted to break down my thoughts of each major field without giving any spoilers or too much negative connotations.

Dialogues:

Not much to say about these, they are what you would expect from a sci-fi flick (some hi-fi English vocabulary paired with the modern Hindi), and the archaic style Hindi (Sanksritised) that is generally seen in the adaptations of Hindu epics.

Characters:

I am sorry to say but the chemistry between is Bhairava & Bujji was almost non-existent. They did talk about stuff other than bounties and work but the final result was too many puns and attempts to make the audience laugh which left nothing to be established between them.

The portrayal of Prabhas' character got a bit tiresome at the start. The interactions between Bhairava and anyone were very, very boring. Apart from that, he wasn't exactly a formidable force either, and so wasn't Ashwatthama.

I genuinely feel that the creator didn't give any character the power that they deserved. For instance, Ashwatthama's powers are bound to the plot, they only work in last resorts. Bhairava does godlike damage as a human. "Other enemies" are literally Stormtroopers and some times really dumb.

Then, the character of Deepika Padukone. It was appropriately executed according to her and the plot, so no complaints there.

The remaining characters are nothing to write home about, nothing of that gravity as of the main 3 characters.

Story & Execution:

The start of the first half was stretched too much, with a lot of that stretched time going to Bhairava (intro & fillers). Then again, his interactions with others were extremely dull.

There were many continuity errors, like skipping somewhat essential bridging scenes and abruptly changing the theme of the scene altogether.

Apart from that, the story (pertaining to the Mahabharata) was told superbly. The flashbacks of Ashwatthama were really good (so was his character). You could really feel the high stakes throughout the movie.

So in essence, the plot was well planned out, but the execution on the character part fell a tad bit short.

VFX:

I went in with high hopes and I came out both surprised and disappointed. At some parts, the VFX was outstanding, but in some places, it was the exact opposite (like the de-aged AB looking like he came straight out of "Motu Patlu").

The bad VFX was best visible during fighting sequences and JUMPS (with some scattered across the film). I cannot stress this enough when I say that the jumps (and the flying) were very inorganic, it was so cable-y, everyone was hovering around. The film was really jump and flight heavy, and given the fact that there are humans of godly stature and a 'Chiranjeevi' involved (enemies being thrown around and protagonists jumping 20 feet), this shouldn't come as a surprise.

Cinematography:

Pretty standard, nothing too extravagant. Overall, a solid setup.

Music:

An absolute treat to the ears. I loved Ashwatthama's theme (right from the announcement). The Bhairava theme was the only thing that felt out of place (but that just might be me). Also, maybe I am nitpicking too much now, but the mixing and the abrupt change in tones across scenes affected the experience a bit. Nevertheless, the music complimented the scenes perfectly.

Influences:

As you know, this movie is inspired by the Mahabharata. I would say that the references to the epic and the sci-fi present day story were well balanced. It all made sense and after all, the essence is that of the Mahabharata's depiction.

In conclusion, the plot was extremely good, story was told really well. It however, lacked in the department of VFX and a special department named "Bhairava". So, the execution was a bit of a miss. However, even with its downsides, the intriguing story and some goosebumps moments (especially towards the end) make this a worthwhile watch!

Its very tricky to do justice to a big story in time limits of a regular movie but this does have that balance in first released part.

Good: Some key flashback context like combat b/w arjun & Karn were spot on , Story is gripping, Visuals are amazing.

Thing that can be better : Prabhas in first part , maybe they could have gone with usual dubbing of Sharad kelkar in Hindi , though time is given to build character in first half but apart from Amitabh Ji no one is able to justice to it and create connect that why first half seems boring at least in Hindi. Action is there in 1st half as well but its some thing once might want to skip but in 2nd Half you don't want to miss it.

Overall its a good blend of Indian mythology with Starwars+Scifi post apocalyptic movie.

What totally went over my head : Prabhas transition from Kal Bhairava to Karna.

#Kalki2898AD is a larger than life Sci-FI Action Experience. The visuals and world building by Nag Ashwin are never before from Indian Cinema. However, Nag Ashwin shows some inexperience in building a proper drama and emotional connect with somewhat of a flat screenplay.

SaNA did a very good job with the BGM in certain places but in others it was just adequate.

Prabhas had limited screen time in this one but did a good job in a fun character and gives a big fan worthy sequence in the climax

The rest of the cast especially Amitabh and Deepika have done and take up majority of the screenspace.

Still, he was able to manage a couple of very good blocks especially the climax which worked very well and is goosebumps worthy.

All the cameos are wasted except Vijay Deverakondas his cameo is very odd 🔥🔥.

Despite some of its flaws, This is a movie that should be experienced on the big screen for the experience it offers!