Kalki 2898AD is the title of Prabhas’ film with Nag Ashwin. It has so far operated with a working title called Project K. The title and the first glimpse of the film were unveiled at the ongoing prestigious San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) on Friday by the production house Vyjayanthi Movies.
The one-minute-16-second glimpse is set in a dystopian world where lawlessness and hopelessness take centre stage and people are running helter-skelter for their life, with old ones losing their lives and the young ones battling to drink water. An oppressor is at play here, while his identity is concealed. Deepika is shown as a recruit in the army alongside other recruits but is clearly lost somewhere. The video then says, “When the World is taken over by Darkness, a Hero Rises.” And rises Prabhas as a beacon of hope and as a brave warrior out to save the people from the forces engulfing them. There’s a fleeting glimpse of the legendary Amitabh Bachchan but he is draped in bandages. The glimpse ends with a foreigner asking, ‘What is Project K?’ Santosh Narayanan’s effective background score adds to the impact of the overall glimpse, which is visionary and spectacular. Looks like Nag Ashwin has once again pushed the bar of storytelling.
Speaking at the Comic-Con, Ashwin said it took four years to prep for the project, then two years to film it. Now he’s looking forward to a release in 2024.
The blend of mythology and sci-fi made it “a different Indian film,” he pointed out.
“It’s still an Indian film at heart, it’s Indian mythology, our culture, from being a south Indian, from being Telugu, from being Indian, from being a fan of Star Wars, all of that love comes into this one thing. It’s a new kind of thing,” he stated.
Featuring an eclectic cast comprising Amitabh Bachchan, Kamal Haasan, Prabhas, Deepika Padukone and Disha Patani, Kalki is scheduled to release on January 12 next year.
