Kalki 2898-AD Review: A Sci-Fi Epic?

Six thousand years after the Kurukshetra War, the world is a scorched, corporate-run wasteland. The immortal Ashwatthama (Amitabh Bachchan), cursed to wander with a bleeding wound, awaits a sign of redemption. That sign is SUM-80 “Sumathi” (Deepika Padukone), a lab-grown vessel for a divine rebirth. Enter Bhairava (Prabhas), a charming, self-serving bounty hunter from the floating city of Kashi who wants nothing more than to buy his way into a better life. When his quarry-the pregnant Sumathi-becomes the key to salvation, Bhairava becomes both her captor and, eventually, her reluctant protector. The Supreme Yaskin (Kamal Haasan), the calculating overlord of the Complex, wants her back. The stage is set for a final battle that transcends time.

Let’s tackle the elephant in the room: the runtime. 176 minutes is a lot of movie. Kalki uses every second, but not always wisely. The first half is a masterclass in world-building. Nag Ashwin and his production designers have crafted a Kashi that feels lived-in-a post-apocalyptic bazaar with flying rickshaws, neon-lit gambling dens, and a god-awful level of inequality. The visual effects, largely produced in India with some international collaboration, are genuinely world-class. The spaceships feel heavy. The landscapes feel desolate. This is no Avatar knock-off; it’s a distinct Indian aesthetic-a Mahabharata meets Blade Runner mash-up that somehow works.

Prabhas, in his most relaxed performance in years, is the film’s oxygen. His Bhairava is a wisecracking hustler-think Han Solo but with a Telugu swagger and a flamboyant, flying bike. He injects humor and a much-needed sense of levity into the weighty mythology. Deepika Padukone has a more challenging role. For most of the runtime, Sumathi is a vessel; she’s pregnant, terrified, and largely reactive. But Padukone lends such quiet dignity to the role that you feel the burden of destiny on her shoulders. It’s a performance of subtle grief.

Then there’s the big daddy: Amitabh Bachchan. As Ashwatthama, he is practically a force of nature. His scenes are drenched in sepia-toned flashbacks, with a booming voice that echoes through the centuries. The film’s most striking visual is his lonely, rotting curse-a constant reminder of a war fought millennia ago. Kamal Haasan’s Supreme Yaskin, meanwhile, is a masterclass in controlled menace. He’s not a screaming villain; he’s a cold, calculating god-king who sits atop a pyramid of human suffering. His conversations with Ashwatthama are the film’s philosophical core.

The middle act, however, drags. There’s a detour to a mushroom-growing settlement and a long sequence involving a remote-controlled giant that feels like filler. The plot mechanics-why Yaskin wants Sumathi, why the Complication (the film’s term for the pregnancy) is important-are explained but never fully felt. The screenplay leans too heavily on exposition dumps and flashbacks to the Kurukshetra war, robbing the present-tense conflict of momentum.

And yet, the climax is a thunderstorm of visual poetry. Ashwatthama, finally unleashed, fights an army of clones. Bhairava makes his choice. The shot of Sumathi, standing on a precipice, holding a divine energy, is the kind of image that stays with you. It’s not a clean ending-it’s a cliffhanger, screaming for a sequel-but it’s a meaningful one. It dares you to believe in the cycle of redemption.

Pros

• Breathtaking visual effects and production design that redefine scale in Indian cinema.
• Prabhas delivers a charismatic, funny, and grounded performance that anchors the absurdity.
• Amitabh Bachchan and Kamal Haasan deliver towering, mythic performances.
• A truly original fusion of Indian mythology and sci-fi, executed with genuine ambition.
• The climax offers a sequence of pure, unadulterated spectacle.

Cons

• Overlong runtime with a sluggish middle act that over-explains mythology.
• Some CGI sequences (particularly the giant robot and early flying shots) look dated for a 2024 release.
• The emotional weight of Sumathi’s arc is undercut by the sheer volume of world-building.
• The script relies on exposition-heavy dialogues to carry plot points rather than showing them.
• The ending is an almost-cynical sequel-bait that feels incomplete.

Kalki 2898-AD is not a perfect film. It’s too long, too talky, and too enamored with its own mythology. But it is a unforgettable film. Nag Ashwin has done what few Indian directors dare: he swung for the fences. He attempted to create a entire universe on screen, blending the cosmic scale of the Puranas with the existential dread of an intergalactic dystopia. The TMDb rating of 6.398 feels about right-it’s a film that excites the mind more than the heart.

If you’re looking for a tidy, satisfying single-movie experience, this isn’t it. But if you want to witness Indian cinema punching far above its weight class, soaring on the confidence of its casting and the density of its world, Kalki 2898-AD is mandatory viewing. It’s a beautiful, broken, colossal miracle. I’m already waiting for the next chapter.