Director Nag Ashwin is the man of the moment. With Kalki 2898 AD showing no signs of slackening its hold at the box office, Nag who is married to the producer C Aswani Dutt’s daughter Priyanka(Nag earlier directed the Savitri bio-pic Mahaniti for his inlaws) is all set direct the sequel to Mahaniti.
A source in the know informs, “The sequel was planned anyhow, no matter what the fate of Kalki. Now that it has proven to be a moneyspinner beyond anything the producers expected, the sequel is being expedited.”
It is reliably learnt that the Kalki sequel will star Amitabh Bachchan , Prabhas and Kamal Haasan again. Kamal Haasan who had only a cameo appearance in the first part will be one of the pivotal characters in the sequel.
It is not very clear at the moment whether Deepika Padukone would be a part of the Kalki sequel.Multiple sources inform me that the producers are willing to wait for Deepika to complete her maternity leave.
“But now with the clamour for the sequel growing with the mounting success of the first film, the producers may decide to replace Deepika in the sequel,” a source reveals.
Significantly Kalki has not performed as well in its original Telugu language as was expected. But it has swept the boxoffice in the cow belt.
With this film Nag Ashwin has joined the ranks of the biggest Indian film directors alongside S S Rajamouli, Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Karan Johar.