Hours after we have reported that Kalki 2898 AD director Nag Ashwin would collaborate with superstar Rajinikanth for an action entertainer, here’s another exciting development. We have reliably learnt that Nag Ashwin would helm a female-centric film for which the script was originally written by legendary writer-director Singeetham Srinivas Rao.
If Monday’s reports of Nag Ashwin teaming up with Rajinikanth was all about excitement, there seems to be more news to the story than what meets the eye. We have learnt that the director is all set to launch his new female-centric film. The official announcement of the project, which is set to go on floors soon, is expected to be made after the Ganesh Chaturthi festival. Singeetham Srinivas Rao worked as the script consultant for Nag Ashwin’s earlier directorial Kalki 2898 AD, starring Prabhas. And at a time when Nag was toying with a few story ideas, he came across Singeetham’s story and chanced upon it. In fact, last year, there were reports that Nag Ashwin would helm a female-centric film that stars Alia Bhatt. But those reports turned out to be untrue. And we have now learnt that a Malayalam actress would headline the new-age female-centric drama.
Nag Ashwin’s film is reportedly written by Singeetam Srinivasa Rao
Wrap up female-centric film quickly
Since Prabhas’s film Kalki 2 would take time, Nag Ashwin wanted to complete a couple of films in the meantime. And a film with Rajinikanth and female-centric films are the ones the filmmaker chose to take up. A source close to the development reveals that Nag Ashwin is very excited with the story and wanted to take the film on floors at the earliest. Since the film with Rajinikanth is likely to go on floors next year around October, the director wants to wrap up the female-centric film and then move on to the superstar’s project.
EXCLUSIVE: “I’m not so good at this part, you know,” Indian megastar Prabhas tells Deadline on the set of upcoming mythological sci-fi movie Kalki 2898 AD.
He is referring to his inability to push his work “into the international level,” but this might all be about to change. For Deadline is speaking to Prabhas in the late evening about a movie which, at a reported budget topping 600 crore rupees ($72M), is estimated to be one of the most expensive Indian movies ever made, potentially the most. Vyjayanthi Movies is behind the production.
Releasing on June 27 after multiple delays, director Nag Ashwin’s Kalki 2898 AD is a sci-fi infused retelling of the Hindu myth of Kalki and the Kali Yuga, the end of the current world age. The film launched its first teaser at the San Diego Comic-Con last year under previous title Project K, becoming the first Indian film to do so. “The whole film is made for international [audiences],” says Prabhas. “That’s why it’s the highest budget and we’ve got the best actors in the country.”
Along with Prabhas, the film brings together some of India’s most renowned actors – veteran Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan, actor, entrepreneur and mental health advocate Deepika Padukone, who was India’s top-paid actress last year, and multiple National Award-winner and Tamil actor Kamal Haasan. “I never thought I would work with people like Amitabh Sir and Kamal Sir [at all], let alone in one film,” Prabhas adds. “When I heard, I called the producer and said, ‘What are you giving me? This is an achievement beyond anything’.”
While India’s international film footprint is primarily associated with Hindi-speaking Bollywood, Kalki 2898 AD is shot primarily in Telugu and will release simultaneously in five languages. It is the latest example in a string of recent films that have been dubbed “pan-Indian” by critics, featuring stars from Bollywood in the same productions as those from regional Indian film industries such as Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam. Since starring in S.S. Rajamouli’s Baahubali: The Beginning and Baahubali 2: The Conclusion – which were the top-grossing Indian movies ever at the time of release – Prabhas has been widely regarded as the first ever “pan-Indian” actor.
“We were hearing for the first time people calling me ‘pan-Indian’,” he says. “That doesn’t really affect me but it’s a good feeling to think that people around the country like me now.”
Throngs of fans
Prabhas is being modest, as evidenced by the throngs of fans in his home state of Andhra Pradesh that gather for a promotional event two days before our chat.
The event in Andhra Pradesh. Image: Treeshul Media Solutions
An estimated 15,000 fans congregate to see the launch of Bujji, a custom-made sentient car that acts as a comic sidekick to Prabhas’ lead character Bhairava in the film. Police patrol the area to prevent a stampede, and a meshed grill separates the crowds from Prabhas, who pulls up two hours late in a working model of the Bujji car accompanied by a blaze of pyrotechnics, dramatic music and squad of black-costumed stormtroopers.
Although Bollywood is undeniably huge, the level of devotion bestowed on South Indian film stars (specifically in the Tamil and Telugu film industries) is reminiscent of frenzied parasocial behaviour more commonly seen among obsessive fandoms of musical artists. Of the 10 minutes he takes to address the masses, several are spent apologizing for a promotional Instagram story teasing “a very special person,” which prompted fans to speculate wildly about his relationship status. “I’m not getting married any time soon, I don’t want to hurt the feelings of my female fans,” assured Prabhas, the crowd roaring its approval.
“In the South especially, [the fans] feel like you are their family,” he explains to Deadline later. “They feel everything. Sometimes they feel like you are their son, the kids feel like you are their brother. Sometimes they feel like you are God.”
“So whatever is said and done, I will be very careful that I will not cheat them,” he adds.
The pressure to not let people down is perhaps felt even more keenly by 38-year-old Ashwin, who is directing the movie. “We have four of the biggest stars in the country, some of the biggest VFX studios and there are a huge amount of action sequences as well,” he explains.
A self-professed nerd as a child, Ashwin’s vision for Kalki 2898 AD resembled “a character from [Indian mythological comic book] Amar Chithra Katha fighting someone from X-Men”. “I hope people will feel really strange when they leave the theater after watching Kalki 2898 AD, and will say, ‘Where am I? Can I go back into this world?’,” says Ashwin, who recalls feeling similarly disoriented after watching James Cameron’s Avatar. He says he made the movie for his 10-year-old self.
The scale of promotion is intended to be global – as seen from last year’s Comic-Con launch – but Ashwin is clear he will not modify any of the names to be more palatable to non-Indian audiences. “It’s Ashwatthama,” he says, spelling out the full name of Bachchan’s cursed warrior character. “Ashwatthama with two T’s.”
Bollywood dancers perform before the ‘Kalki 2898-AD a.k.a. Project K’ panel and screening at the 2023 Comic-Con International: San Diego
Michael Buckner/Getty Images
World cinema has seen countless adaptations of Norse, Greek and Roman mythologies, but Hindu is trickier to adapt because it still boasts more than 1 billion adherents worldwide. An increasingly polarized India has seen multiple film adaptations of Hindu mythology announced in recent years, includingNamit Malhotra’s upcoming version of Hindu epic Ramayana. Hailed as a global collaboration and featuring Hans Zimmer on the score, this movie will become another of India’s most expensive film productions in 2025.
Ashwin is not concerned, stating that Kalki 2898 AD does not involve any characters actively worshipped by large numbers of Hindus. “We can take it as extremely religious or we can take it as the story of somebody who was born with a lot of power, didn’t know what to do with it, and found his mentor in the process,” he says as Prabhas nods agreement. “Of course, if you tell it in the Indian context there will be a bit of devotion and emotion, but I feel any story can be dealt with subjectively without bringing a religious connotation.”
Kalki 2898 AD is the first instalment in this universe, and, if the first performs well, Ashwin, who says Marvel movies “open massively” in India, plans to direct sequels. Aside from ensuring the financial satisfaction of the film’s stakeholders (including his wife, sister-in-law and father-in-law, who are producers on the film), Ashwin’s definition for success involves “reaching people and demographics that we didn’t sit in a room and try to target.” He shares the example of going on a family holiday to the northeast Indian state of Sikkim, where a small theater was still showing Baahubali a month or two after its release. “I thought that was really cool because I don’t think the makers planned that to happen.”
“If that happens for this movie, that would be something special.”
A lot has already been said about Kalki 2898 AD’s historic debut at San Diego Comic-Con. The film, formerly referred to as Project K, created history by becoming the first ever Indian film to debut at the global event. Now, the makers have released a video that encompasses the film’s journey from Project K to Kalki 2898 AD.
The video is sure to hit you right in the feels as it captures the momentous moment up close and personal. The video is certainly going to pull at the heartstrings of those who watch it and remind them how big of a feat Kalki 2898 AD has achieved with this Comic-Con debut.
Audience collectively chants once more after the teaser of Kalki 2898 AD debut at Comic-Con
Relive Prabhas and Kamal Haasan starrer film’s journey from Project K to Kalki 2898 AD
The video encapsulating Kalki 2898 AD’s Comic-Con journey was shared by the film’s production company, Vyjayanthi Movies. Even though the video is less than 2 minutes long, it perfectly captures the euphoria among fans who witnessed the film’s debut at Comic-Con. Amitabh Bachchan was not physically present at Comic-Con but instead joined the film’s team via Zoom.
Those who were present at the event were Prabhas, Nag Ashwin, Kamal Haasan, and Rana Daggubati, while Deepika Padukone chose to skip Comic-Con. The film is bankrolled by Vyjayanthi Movies, and producers C Aswani Dutt, Swapna Dutt, and Priyanka Dutt were also present at the event.
The most heartfelt moment in the video belonged to Aswani Dutt when he said, “It took 50 years of my hard work to reach Amitji, Kamalji, and my friend Prabhas”. While he mentioned the latter’s name, he also gently patted the Saaho actor’s back. The audience could not stop their cheers and claps after the debut of the teaser. When the fans chanted once more, the teaser was played again at the venue.
Truly, the video is enough proof that the success of Kalki 2898 AD at a global level is something for the entire country to be proud of. Hopefully, the film will be successful in getting similar responses from the audience. The Nag Ashwin directorial aims high and has gone all out with its ambition.
