After months of build-up, and mere weeks before its long-awaited release, the first trailer for the Indian tent-poleKalki 2898 ADwas unveiled on Monday. Described as a “mythological science-fiction” film thatcombineselements of the Hindu religion with a cyberpunk aesthetic,Kalki 2898 ADhas also been generating attention for beingthe most expensive Indian movie ever made. Produced on a reported budget of over $70 million, the film starsPrabhas— best known for leading the two Baahubali blockbusters — alongside a handful of bona fide legends.
The new trailer comes on the heels of at least a couple of teasers and posters that revealed brief glimpses of the elaborate world that directorNag Ashwinhas designed. Prabhas stars as Bhairava, a selfish bounty hunter who operates in a cyberpunk version of the real-life holy Indian city of Varanasi, alongside an AI-powered vehicle companion named Bujji. Bhairava is handed a bounty by the film’s main antagonist, a dictatorial warlord who learns of the arrival of a “chosen one.” He discovers that the woman he has been tasked with apprehending, played byDeepika Padukone, is the mother of this unborn messiah. Having trained in the art of combat by the immortal Ashwatthama, played by the screen iconAmitabh Bachchan, Bhairava discovers the importance of his role in this epic mission, and finally learns to fight for somebody other than himself.
The trailer confirms what many had suspected already, that in addition to the Hindu epic Mahabharata,Ashwin appears to be drawing heavily from the sandy aesthetic ofDenis Villeneuve’s two Dune moviesand the unhinged dystopia ofGeorge Miller’sMad Max films. Water is a scarce commodity in this world, populated by old temples and futuristic fortresses. The trailer reveals glimpses of epic battles, inventive sets, and gives Prabhas plenty of room to flex his star power. Like most Indian tent-poles of this size,Kalki 2898 ADcombines a variety of tones— in one moment, it’s a Hollywood-inspired sci-fi epic, but in the next, it’s a rustic Indian film in the vein of recent hits such asRRR,Kantara,Pushpa: The Rise, or Prabhas’ ownSalaar: Part 1 — Ceasefire.
Ashwin intends forKalki 2898 ADto spawn a new franchise, and for it to cross over internationally likeRRRdid a couple of years ago. Hedebuted the first footage from the film at a grand Hall H panel at the San Diego Comic Con in 2023, where he was joined by Prabhas and the legendary actorKamal Haasan, who appears briefly in the trailer as some kind of soothsayer figure. Unlike Hollywood, India has several local industries that operate independently of each other —not every Indian film is a “Bollywood” film. The term applies only to movies produced in the Hindi language, whereas Prabhas works mainly in the Telugu-language industry. But because of its eclectic, multicultural cast,Kalki 2898 ADcan be described as a “pan-Indian film,” meaning that it will target audiences across the diverse nation.
Western crowds would recognize Bachchan from his cameo inBaz Luhrmann’sThe Great Gatsby, although he’s easily the most celebrated male star that the country has ever produced. Padukone, on the other hand, made her Hollywood debut withxXx: Return of Xander Cagea few years ago, and was seen in the blockbustersPathaanandJawanin 2023.Kalki 2898 ADalso featuresDisha Patani,Anna Ben, andSaswata Chatterjeein supporting roles, alongsideKeerthy Sureshas the voice of Bujji. The movie will be released in multiple languages across the globe on June 27. You can watch the trailer here, and stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
