Kalki 2898 AD: Where Hindu Mythology meets Futuristic Excellence!!
There is no doubt that Nag Ashwin's "Kalki 2898AD" is a cinematic and sci-fi marvel. But the greatest strength of this film is how the Director blends Divine Hindu mythology and Indian emotions with a Futuristic dystopian saga. Kudos to Nag Ashwin for creating these Amazing 3-worlds for us to cherish and engross ourselves in. Social networks now abuzz with Memes & conspiracy theories about how these words interact and how Kalki-2 will unravel more about these.
There are several highs in the movie; to mention few without spoilers: Ashwathama and Bhairava fight sequences, Kamal Sir shining as (even if for a few mins) the evil Yaskin , Deepika's Sumati emerging out of her bondage from the complex, Kyra's brief love-story and fight sequence, Bujji's transformation fight in the climax, cliff-hanger in the climax.
I will have to mention a few cons though: The slow first-half with unnecessary jokes, too may cameos that add nothing to the story (a few were surprising and got many laughs). Disha's bombshell cameo could have been used to enhance the story rather than the listless song sequence. BGM is satisfying in most places but also falls flat in few sequences, Music-score is a much-needed improvement for the next installment.
Deepika's "Sumati" is looking confused or annoyed or sad in pretty much all the scenes had me and many others posing the same question: Why cast a huge star like Deepika and relegate her to a damsel in distress? Many main-stream reviewers had the same thoughts on Deepika's role in Kalki-1, and if this will evolve it Kalki-2. Shobana's character "Mariam" was just stupendous, and we wish the yester years actress got more screentime.
In any-case Kalki-'s superb story, sneak-peak into the 3-worlds , world-class Visual effects, fast-moving screenplay in the second-half, casting genius which includes four supremely talented super-stars, Prabhas's charisma and acting are more than enough reasons to catch this flick at a theater nearest to you. Don't miss out!!
Cannot express how proud I am to see my own Telugu movie pushing new boundaries, scaling new heights in Indian cinema and achieving such high praise from across the Indian film industry. Hope this will pave the way for more visual marvels on-par with this one!!