How on earth did Nag Ashwin think of doing this? Indian filmmakers do not have the infrastructure. They don’t have the wealth. They don’t have the resources to pull off something like this. This is the first time that in Kalki 2898 AD we have seen something on a par with what we see in those Marvel films and those superhero films from the West.
Says Ashwin, “I think it’s just a coming together of things, Sir, in time. I think it’s mainly two things.One is Prabhas. After ten years of Baahubali , the market has expanded. And the second is my producers, who are as maverick as I am.I think these two are the biggest reasons why this happened. And I think Prabhas is grown to the scale to which he is thrown right now. I think the time had all come together and we just, I mean, definitely the whole team worked really hard. It took a long time.Our production designer is a very unique talent. Our cameraman is a unique talent.”
Everyone is a unique talent here. Even those who are not unique talents in other films are a unique talent here. Nag Ashwin says he had no time to get nervous or excited about the release date. “I think we were so rushing till the last minute, sir, to deliver the film to distributors. And it was like the amount of VFX, you know, sir, it was very tough.And because there were also multiple languages and there are formats like 3D, IMAX and multiple formats.I mean, right till the last moment. Finally, it was set out in the world. It was almost like somebody’s pulling away my first child.We didn’t have time to feel very tense. We were still delivering and we were still thinking about, you know, whether this was a shot or, you know… You have multiple versions to look into individually. The IMAX Telugu version was something that we had to deliver first. And it was the least finished of the lot. It had some unfinished VFX. It had some unfinished music, sound, all of that. Some missing dialogues. It was very unfinished. And we had to send it off almost like 5-6 days before the rest of the delivery.And the first, the most number of calls I got for the visual excellence version was from the IMAX Telugu version.And there was a whole uproar about it not being ready and being cancelled, the Hindi IMAX version.hat was actually some technical thing in Pune, sir. That was actually not up to date. Something happened with the IMAX servers.”
Kalki brings back Mr Bachchan as a genuine superhero. “For me, Bachchan sir was the first person I wanted on board. He surrendered to my vision, Sir. The first person I approached.I think that’s something that he gave full freedom for, so he didn’t have any extra baggage.
Ashwin Nag reveals he started pre-production for Kalki right after his last film Mahanati released. “I decided to start this off, I think about a few months after Mahanati, sir. Four or five months after Mahanati.It’s something that was building up within me. It’s something that was building up over time. It definitely came from growing up influences like Mahabharata.I read small abridged versions when I was growing up, but I read the proper big one during this movie. There was a proper one, which was a good translation.So, I did read that. But also, I think in Telugu cinema, there were so many of these Mahabharata adaptations.Growing up, I always saw these black and white films with these bow and arrow fights.So that mixed with, I guess, the exposure to the Western Star Wars series and trying to mix those. I’d say comics and cartoons and films and books. Books, I used to read a lot. I haven’t read anything much lately, but I used to. I’d have comics inside my school books, that kind of thing.I’m definitely a huge fan of Star Wars. I think that was one of the first influences on Kalki.I definitely love Mad Max, but I would say this particular chase scene in some form or the other was written a while back. But I think it’s also a setting. Like, as soon as you put a truck in a desert, it’s going to look like Mad Max.”
Now that Kalki has caught the attention of the entire nation, we all want to know when is the next one going to come?
Reveals Nag Ashwin, “The next one is a while off because it’s not really shot yet. We shot like about 20 or 30 days.I’d say at best 20%. Right, right. At best 20% because the big stuff is still remaining.We have to get that right.It’d just like the finishing of the story.”
There will be a lot more of Kamal Hassan in the sequel.
But before the Kalki sequel Nag Ashwin has another project. “I actually immediately have one small other commitment I’ve finished for another producer . Then I’ll get back to this.Yes, Sir, I have to do in between, which has been sort of waiting.It’s like a series, sir. It will be in Hindi only.I think the prep for Kalki will take some time, so I’ll use that time in between.”
The success of Kalki is a huge relief for Nag Ashwin. “I think it was definitely a big thing, not just for Hindi or anything, sir, but because we attempted something like this, it was so important that we don’t fail, because that would shut the door for so many people.If you say sci-fi, nowadays people are like, we know what’s going to happen, so we had to make sure we didn’t fail.”