Ronit J

Kalki 2898 AD Synopsis:

When the world is taken over by darkness, a new force will arise.

In the year 2898 AD, around 6000 years after Kurukshetra war, Ashwatthama gears up for his final battle of redemption at the sign of hope in a dystopian world and Bhairava, a wisecracking and self-interested bounty hunter, tired of the perilous life becomes the hurdle in the process.

Kalki 2898 AD Review:

Kalki 2898 AD is yet another story that depends on the Hindu epic of Mahabharata. After all, the Mahabharata is that kind of epic with interpersonal and political complexities that are relevant even today. Sadly, Kalki refuses to see this tale as anything more than a backdrop for epic context building that’s all show and no substance.

We open with a shot of an animated Ashwatthama (Amitabh Bachchan) in the aftermath of the Kurukshetra war. Krishna curses Ashwatthama with immortality, and tasks with ensuring the birth of Vishnu’s tenth avatar (Kalki). Cut to an animated montage depicting the worst of human history—an animated sequence that’s leagues better than the animated-looking de-aged Amitabh. Yes, animated Amitabh is really just poor CGI [most expensive Indian film ever made, mind you].

What follows is your run-of-the-mill there’s an unborn saviour that we must protect storyline. Kalki has all the tropes—from the “wise-cracking” bounty hunter with a heart, to the Mother Mary-esque womb-taxi for the saviour, to “epic-scale” CGI finales. Sadly, Kalki 2898 AD fails to make anything of these tropes, using them as shallow templates instead. Each one makes for beautiful visuals and somewhat entertaining moments, but not a smidge more.

Mahabharata meets Dune, Star Wars, Mad Max, the MCU, and more:

One of the most striking parts of the film are sequences set in the “past”. The makers have given due respect to everything that transpires in mythological times. But, that’s not exactly something to laud. We’ve had way too many interpretations of the Mahabharata for the makers to go wrong. Besides, given how important this epic is to almost 4/5th of the Indian population (a little under one billion people), you don’t have the option of experimenting or being lazy (*cough* Adipurush *cough*).

If only the makers had extended this courtesy to the non-mythology parts as well. The care and attention given are again an indication that the makers were capable. Yet, they didn’t bother because who the fuck cares about anything outside the purview of religion, no?

There are some very cool features in the post-apocalyptic city of Kashi. I was looking forward to seeing how the makers will incorporate Indian paraphernalia. After all, the first scene in this world transpires in the back of a dystopian lorry. Sadly, there’s very little originality to this world. Everything just looks like your generic [insert popular media] aesthetic. As the film progresses, we see a lot more of this, with little to no attempt to even make it Indian or justify why it’s all generic.

To be honest, the world of Kalki 2898 AD doesn’t lack originality as much as it lacks soul and character. My problem isn’t the blatant copying of popular media, it’s the laziness in incorporating these elements into this unique setting. Absolute waste of potential, because the small nuggets of creativity that are in the film suggest that the makers were capable of doing much better. They just chose not to.

Kalki 2898 AD: An Over-Expensive TikTok/Reel

Let’s talk about my biggest problem with this film. Bhairava. I’m surprised Prabhas agreed to be portrayed as an unlikeable goon with no redeeming qualities. Seriously, his character is basically what you get if you remove all the good traits from Luffy. He’s a glutton, an apathetic loser who lives off other people, and causes more trouble than solves problems.

Prabhas’ entry and “hero shots” are little more than expensive TikTok/Reels. The action sequences Bhairava gets are somehow worse than the synchronised song-and-dance sequence. He’s described as a wisecrack, but his banter is akin to what you’d hear in secondary school. Either the makers underestimated the Indian public, or I overestimated the capabilities of mainstream Indian cinema. I don’t know which is more insulting.

Bhairava is one of two narrative reasons that Kalki falls apart. Bhairava does nothing for the story, and everything against it. Want a random hot girl for a meaningless song-and-dance sequence? Let’s slap that into Bhairava’s plot without rhyme or reason. The entire plot of him going into Kashi and finding a paradise doesn’t establish the hard-hitting disparity between the rich and poor. It is neither a spectacle worth seeing, nor does it take the plot anywhere. We never even hear from Disha Patani again (So forgettable, I can’t remember her character’s name).

What’s more, Bhairava is the reason shit hits the fan in the last act. But, he turns out to be a reincarnation of Karna and the makers expect us to forgive this good-for-nothing belligerent because “insert some random mythology reason”?

You can’t get away with using gods and religion as an excuse for bad behaviour. Shit like this is why Indian society continues to wallow in its backward beliefs and poor prospects for women and the downtrodden.

An extended trailer for yet another pointless media franchise

The second reason why Kalki fails is one that plagues mainstream Indian cinema—and to an extent mainstream movies across the globe. Lazy writing.

Ashwatthama is the only character in the whole film that has a clear goal, motivation, and character depth. He is missing for half the film.

Deepika—a fantastic actor—is reduced to a damsel in distress with little more than whining and whimpering to show off her acting range. [Side note: every single female character in Kalki is basically just a stepping stone for men to be badass. Can’t believe Deepika actually signed up for this role.]

Bhairava rots in a character plot that can only be described as masturbatory self-aggrandization. [If I were Prabhas, I’d be really upset with the makers.]

And Supreme Yaskin—played by the versatile and award-winning Kamal Hassan—is reduced to a derivative bad-guy-with-a-god-complex. [I just have one question for Mr. Kamal Hassan. Why?] I mean, was there even a Supreme Yaskin in Mahabharata?

And that’s only scratching the surface. Kalki doesn’t bother to build its post-apocalyptic world. Hell, the only reason the mythology scenes feel better realised is because those stories have been told countless times over centuries. The plot, characters and world are all hollow. The film refuses to engage in any sort of discourse and suffers from abject apathy from the makers. Scene after scene, the film drags on like an endless tease.

To sum up, Kalki 2898 AD gives its viewers little more than what the trailer did. I am not joking when I say that this film is a 2h55m long trailer for the Kalki Cinematic Universe, the latest addition in the ever-growing list of pointless media franchises that want to make money without making the effort to create meaningful content.

Kalki is not a bad film. Neither is it good.

It is just okay.

In Conclusion:

Kalki 2898 AD is an okay film that uses the Indian Politician method of storytelling “all promise and no delivery”. Time and again, the film industry has continued to inflict its blockbuster flatulence on us and the people flock to the theatres to inhale that mediocrity. Why are you okay with throwing your hard-earned money at these insultingly mediocre cash grabs when there’s much better content out there that not only deserves your money but will also enrich your life in the process of consuming it?

My Rating: ★★☆☆☆ (2/5)

P.S.: I started watching the film on Amazon Prime, but then switched to the Hindi version on Netflix. My boredom made me check my phone in the middle of the film way too many times. Also Netflix has the option of 1.5x playback speed, which saved me precious minutes.

Also check out:

• Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024) Film Review
• Help! My Dog Is The Chosen One! by Ronit J
• Abandoned by the Gods by Ronit J

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