About Kalki 2898 AD
Directed by: Nag Ashwin
Written by: Nag Ashwin
Dialogues by: Sai Madhav Burra
Produced by: C. Aswani Dutt
Starring: Prabhas, Amitabh Bachchan, Kamal Haasan, Deepika Padukone, Disha Patani
Cinematography: Djordje Stojiljkovic
Edited by: Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao
Music by: Santhosh Narayanan
Production company: Vyjayanthi Movies
Distributed by: Sri Venkateswara Creations
Release date: January 12, 2024
Country: India
Languages: Telugu, Hindi
Budget: ₹600 crore
Kalki 2898 AD is a big movie from India. It’s a futuristic story set almost 900 years from now. It’s a mix of science fiction and a world that’s not so good, called dystopia. The director is Nag Ashwin, and it’s made by Vyjayanthi Movies. The actors include Prabhas, Amitabh Bachchan, Kamal Haasan, Deepika Padukone, and Disha Patani.
They first called this movie ‘Project K’ in February 2020, which was the 50th birthday of Vyjayanthi Movies. But because of COVID-19, they had to wait a year to start making it. Finally, in July 2021, they began filming at Ramoji Film City in Hyderabad. They filmed it in both Telugu and Hindi languages.
This movie costs ₹600 crore (which is a lot of money!), making it the most expensive Indian movie ever. The music is by Santhosh Narayanan, and Djordje Stojiljkovic is the one who takes the cool pictures. Nitin Zihani Choudhary makes everything look awesome. They plan to release Kalki 2898 AD in 2024 in theaters.
Cast Of Kalki 2898 AD
- Prabhas as Kalki
- Amitabh Bachchan as Ashwathama
- Kamal Haasan
- Deepika Padukone
- Disha Patani
- Dulquer Salman
- Pasupathy
- Saswata Chatterjee
Production
Development
In 2018, there was a movie called Mahanati. The director, Nag Ashwin, said in August 2019 that he was working on a new story for a long time. He was getting ready to start making it soon. In September of that year, Vyjayanthi Movies said they were going to start making Ashwin’s movie. They asked artists, designers, and writers to join them.
Then, in February 2020, Vyjayanthi Movies officially said their next movie with Ashwin would have Prabhas in it. They wanted to celebrate 50 years since their studio started. Ashwin’s father-in-law, C. Aswani Dutt, is producing the movie.
Casting
In July 2020, a famous Indian actress named Deepika Padukone got chosen to act alongside Prabhas in a movie. She was really excited about it. The director said her role would surprise people because it was different from what most main actors usually do. This movie is her first in Telugu cinema.
At first, it seemed like her part in the movie wasn’t very big, but they made it better because of her fame. Later, in October, another famous actor, Amitabh Bachchan, got a big role in the movie. It’s his first big role in a Telugu movie.
Then, in May 2022, another actress named Disha Patani joined the cast, coming back to Telugu movies after being in one in 2015. In June 2023, Kamal Haasan also joined the cast, coming back to Telugu and Hindi movies after a while.
Pre-production
The movie, called “Project K” at first, needed really advanced technology and cool future-looking cars. The director, Ashwin, wanted them to seem real, not just computer-made, so he decided to build them from the beginning with a special team.
In 2022, Ashwin asked businessman Anand Mahindra for help. Anand Mahindra said his company, Mahindra & Mahindra, would help out from their special research place in Chennai.
They set up a futuristic place to film a lot of scenes in July 2021 at Ramoji Film City in Hyderabad. It was like a make-believe world!
At the start, they asked music composer A. R. Rahman to make music, but he didn’t join. Instead, they got Mickey J. Meyer and Dani Sanchez-Lopez from a previous movie. But later on, Djordje Stojiljkovic replaced Dani Sanchez-Lopez as the main person filming the movie. In 2023, Santhosh Narayanan took over from Meyer as the music composer, and a female Bollywood composer made a song too. Singeetam Srinivasa Rao joined to guide the project.
The movie “Kalki 2898 AD” cost around ₹600 crore (US$75 million) to make, making it the most expensive Indian movie ever!
Filming
At first, they planned to start making the movie in November 2020, but because of COVID-19, they delayed it to the next year. They began filming in July 2021 in Hyderabad. Actors like Bachchan, Prabhas, and Padukone started shooting scenes in December 2021. They split the 80 to 90 days of shooting into smaller parts spread over several months to prepare all the things they needed for the movie. They’re using a special camera, the DIY Arri Alexa 65, for the first time in an Indian film.
Prabhas was supposed to start filming alone in April 2022, but he had knee surgery, so his other movie projects, like Salaar and Kalki 2898 AD, got delayed too. Most of the filming is happening in Ramoji Film City. Different scenes were shot in places like a metro station and for a car chase in Hyderabad. By June 2023, Prabhas had finished most of his parts.
They thought they’d finish filming by January 2023, but it got delayed because Bachchan hurt his ribs in March 2023. Around 70% of the filming was done by June 2023. Now they’re working on the post-production and special effects, which will take about 8 more months.
Release
The movie “Kalki 2898 AD” was supposed to come out in 2022 but got delayed because of COVID-19 and other production issues. Now, it’s planned to hit the cinemas in January 2024. They’re going to release it in Telugu, Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, and English.
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