Kalki 2898-AD

Kalki is an ambitious Tollywood project. Kudos to the actors down south for coming together, trusting the director and the process, and for doing their bit even if it means small cameos! Really applaudable.

As the name suggests, Kalki is inspired by the epic tale of the Mahabharata, yet it feels more like a plagiarized science fiction story taken from around the world with a pinch of Indina mythology. However, its a visual and cinematic treat given the CGI and VFX.used.

The plot was amiss; the storytelling, screenplay, and dialogues couldn't keep me hooked. It was dragging and pointless at times.

Character building for the entire cast was the biggest letdown. The prophetic incarnation of Lord Vishnu's last Avatar wasn't imbibed in the story the way it was supposed to be. Very underwhelming.

Kalki is somewhat bearable because of the one and only Amitabh Bachchan's performance. His screen presence and acting are the soul of the film. I loved seeing my favorite actor Brahmanadam in a small role. Prabhas is just the usual Prabhas-same swag, same power-there is nothing new about his or Deepika Padukone 's performance. Disha Patni 's role was kinda unnecessary and it seems like she was there for her typical beach scene where she can show her fit body only.

Overall, Kalki(most expensive Indian film), is rather disappointing, and it definitely fails to deliver.

Theatres are housefull so far, but im pretty sure, its bez of the take reviews. This was the first instalment of the Kalki Cinematic Universe, i hope the next one does justice, but this one is a hard pass!

A unique genre, a well written story (script) & strong characters give this movie a strong start. The extravagant visuals & very detailed crisp VFX gives the audience much needed thrill.

However, one cannot forgo the resemblance of some VFX shots have with movies like Dune, Star-wars, mad max, black panther & transformers...Although huge kudos to the team for producing a movie which is equivalent to the scale of above mentioned movies.

Pros : 1. Time taken to build characters & explain world 2. Stunts, crisp bright visuals 3. Screenplay, Direction 4. Comedy Cons : 1. Music, background score is unique but doesn't give the much needed grandeur to the visuals and scenes, repeated use of same score, abruptly high background score during stunts 2. Editing especially first half.

Buckle up for a roller-coaster ride through cinematic chaos! The story idea is an absolute gem, brimming with potential, and the characters are nothing short of a casting director's dream-each one brimming with pizzazz and personality. But alas, their development seems to have been left in the microwave a bit too long, coming out half-baked.

The screenplay? It's flatter than a week-old soda. Though, I must admit, it does have its fizz in a few key moments, like the interval and the climax.

Dialogues? Let's just say they won't be winning any literary awards.

Now, onto the comedy-it's the kind that instead of tickling your funny bone, it goes straight for the jugular, and not in a good way. The world-building feels like it was put together with duct tape and imagination, lacking the immersive magic we hoped for.

But let's talk about the legendary Amitabh Bachchan, who is stellar as always.

Prabhas gives it his all, bless his heart.

Kamal Hassan makes a brief yet dazzling appearance, hinting at more brilliance in the next instalment.

Saswata Chatterjee? He brings his A-game, no doubt about it.

Deepika Padukone looks fine and delivers a decent performance, and her Telugu dubbing is better than that in the trailer.

Disha Patani is scorching enough to set the screen on fire in her limited screen time.

The rest of the cast, including Pashupati, Shobhana and Rajendra Prasad put in decent efforts. However, the film is sprinkled with cameos like confetti at a surprise party-most of which are more of a head-scratcher than a treat.

The action scenes? They're as disappointing as a soggy French fry.

Cinematography is serviceable, background music hits the right notes, but the songs miss the mark.

Production values are respectable, but direction sails somewhere in the middling seas of mediocrity.

Some VFX are eye-poppingly good, though.

Overall, it's a mixed bag of delights and letdowns-a cinematic hotpot where the ingredients are only half-cooked. Enjoy it for what it is, but don't be surprised if you leave the theater feeling a little unsatisfied.

Right off the bat, I will say that the plot was superbly established, it made you feel the stakes. The main storyline originates from the Mahabharata so the creators really needed to push the boundaries on the execution, which I can say that they did but were they able to pull it off extraordinarily or were there shortcomings? Read on to find out.

I have attempted to break down my thoughts of each major field without giving any spoilers or too much negative connotations.

Dialogues:

Not much to say about these, they are what you would expect from a sci-fi flick (some hi-fi English vocabulary paired with the modern Hindi), and the archaic style Hindi (Sanksritised) that is generally seen in the adaptations of Hindu epics.

Characters:

I am sorry to say but the chemistry between is Bhairava & Bujji was almost non-existent. They did talk about stuff other than bounties and work but the final result was too many puns and attempts to make the audience laugh which left nothing to be established between them.

The portrayal of Prabhas' character got a bit tiresome at the start. The interactions between Bhairava and anyone were very, very boring. Apart from that, he wasn't exactly a formidable force either, and so wasn't Ashwatthama.

I genuinely feel that the creator didn't give any character the power that they deserved. For instance, Ashwatthama's powers are bound to the plot, they only work in last resorts. Bhairava does godlike damage as a human. "Other enemies" are literally Stormtroopers and some times really dumb.

Then, the character of Deepika Padukone. It was appropriately executed according to her and the plot, so no complaints there.

The remaining characters are nothing to write home about, nothing of that gravity as of the main 3 characters.

Story & Execution:

The start of the first half was stretched too much, with a lot of that stretched time going to Bhairava (intro & fillers). Then again, his interactions with others were extremely dull.

There were many continuity errors, like skipping somewhat essential bridging scenes and abruptly changing the theme of the scene altogether.

Apart from that, the story (pertaining to the Mahabharata) was told superbly. The flashbacks of Ashwatthama were really good (so was his character). You could really feel the high stakes throughout the movie.

So in essence, the plot was well planned out, but the execution on the character part fell a tad bit short.

VFX:

I went in with high hopes and I came out both surprised and disappointed. At some parts, the VFX was outstanding, but in some places, it was the exact opposite (like the de-aged AB looking like he came straight out of "Motu Patlu").

The bad VFX was best visible during fighting sequences and JUMPS (with some scattered across the film). I cannot stress this enough when I say that the jumps (and the flying) were very inorganic, it was so cable-y, everyone was hovering around. The film was really jump and flight heavy, and given the fact that there are humans of godly stature and a 'Chiranjeevi' involved (enemies being thrown around and protagonists jumping 20 feet), this shouldn't come as a surprise.

Cinematography:

Pretty standard, nothing too extravagant. Overall, a solid setup.

Music:

An absolute treat to the ears. I loved Ashwatthama's theme (right from the announcement). The Bhairava theme was the only thing that felt out of place (but that just might be me). Also, maybe I am nitpicking too much now, but the mixing and the abrupt change in tones across scenes affected the experience a bit. Nevertheless, the music complimented the scenes perfectly.

Influences:

As you know, this movie is inspired by the Mahabharata. I would say that the references to the epic and the sci-fi present day story were well balanced. It all made sense and after all, the essence is that of the Mahabharata's depiction.

In conclusion, the plot was extremely good, story was told really well. It however, lacked in the department of VFX and a special department named "Bhairava". So, the execution was a bit of a miss. However, even with its downsides, the intriguing story and some goosebumps moments (especially towards the end) make this a worthwhile watch!

I don't understand the obsession with hero entry and why people are not against it if you have a good story then just stick with why do you need the star to be bigger than the story first hour of story is skippable completely , rest vfx was top notch even the ending was very good but this obsession with hero needs to stop also the director did not invent the character Kalki nor any references that they took from Mahabharata so please be respectful because its a part of our history not something that you can mock or not make it serious just because you want the hero entry or want films to have some useless and unfunny comedy.