'Kalki 2898 AD', starring Kamal Haasan, Amitabh Bachchan, Deepika Padukone and Prabhas, is inspired by the Indian epic Mahabharata and fuses mythology with science fiction.
It is set in a post-apocalyptic world in the year 2898 AD. and follows a select group on a mission to save Kalki, the fetus of SUM-80 (played by Deepika), a laboratory subject.
The filmmaker spoke to IANS about the long journey it took to put together the film and how he managed to handle such a big star cast that includes the titans of the Indian film industry.
The film has grossed Rs 536 crore in India and seems unstoppable. Talking about his state of mind following the film's stellar response at the box office, the director called it “very satisfying.”
He said: "I'm also a little overwhelmed because it's been a long journey for everyone involved in the film."
The film also features several cameos by stars of the Indian film industry. Nag Ashwin shared the reason behind casting actors from virtually all Indian film industries and told IANS, “In a way, it was a commercially driven decision, but I wanted representation of every language or state in our film. So, we consciously try to hire artists from all over the country, be it Gujarati, Punjabi, Bengali, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi and others.”
It has been a long and arduous journey for all the artists on the film, given its scale and sheer magnificence. How did you keep the passion alive all these years? The director said: “The core of the story was something that I was excited about and I knew that once we started, it would be very difficult because what we were trying to do was related to the Mahabharata, which is the greatest Indian epic.”
He further mentioned that his team and his producers constantly supported him, and it was thanks to the collective energies that this was possible, otherwise it would have been much more difficult to put together and deliver this film.
When asked about the trick in handling so many big stars in the film, the director told IANS that there is no trick and all the actors involved in the project are thorough professionals, which makes a filmmaker's job a lot easier.
“All the stars are so mature and experienced that they knew exactly what they had to do and knew their purpose. “They made our lives quite easy on the sets and, by being such good actors, they really elevated what was on paper to something much bigger,” he added.
It is set in a post-apocalyptic world in the year 2898 AD. and follows a select group on a mission to save Kalki, the fetus of SUM-80 (played by Deepika), a laboratory subject.
The filmmaker spoke to IANS about the long journey it took to put together the film and how he managed to handle such a big star cast that includes the titans of the Indian film industry.
The film has grossed Rs 536 crore in India and seems unstoppable. Talking about his state of mind following the film's stellar response at the box office, the director called it “very satisfying.”
He said: "I'm also a little overwhelmed because it's been a long journey for everyone involved in the film."
The film also features several cameos by stars of the Indian film industry. Nag Ashwin shared the reason behind casting actors from virtually all Indian film industries and told IANS, “In a way, it was a commercially driven decision, but I wanted representation of every language or state in our film. So, we consciously try to hire artists from all over the country, be it Gujarati, Punjabi, Bengali, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi and others.”
It has been a long and arduous journey for all the artists on the film, given its scale and sheer magnificence. How did you keep the passion alive all these years? The director said: “The core of the story was something that I was excited about and I knew that once we started, it would be very difficult because what we were trying to do was related to the Mahabharata, which is the greatest Indian epic.”
He further mentioned that his team and his producers constantly supported him, and it was thanks to the collective energies that this was possible, otherwise it would have been much more difficult to put together and deliver this film.
When asked about the trick in handling so many big stars in the film, the director told IANS that there is no trick and all the actors involved in the project are thorough professionals, which makes a filmmaker's job a lot easier.
“All the stars are so mature and experienced that they knew exactly what they had to do and knew their purpose. “They made our lives quite easy on the sets and, by being such good actors, they really elevated what was on paper to something much bigger,” he added.
