When this project was announced I don’t know why I had such high expectations. Was it because it was coming from the telugu cinema landscape which was scoring high in cinematic spectacles? Was it because I loved the director’s last film? Was it because of the star cast & some of my favourites coming under one belt? Maybe it was all of it because I knew very little about the film’s content beyond the basics like everyone else. But yesterday when I walked into the theatre I clearly knew why I was there; it was a movie fanatic’s excitement to see if Director Nag Ashwin managed what he promised.
As a writer myself, I was excited by the two trailers the movie released. It told me a potential that was rare & I binge watched the one or two promotion interviews the team did. To envision such an idea from thin air to actually be the creator of it is no mean feat. Like Kamal Hasan sir said in one of the interviews, having the ambition is easy, the task is to deliver it onscreen. What I watched on the celluloid was a reflection of the inner child in me that would read an amarchithrakadha that detailed epics and a crazy cartoon that suggests the hope for the impossible & imagine mad ideas that I wouldn’t dare say out loud. So to see Nag Ashwin resonate with that inner child in me with this vision was an adrenaline rush I wasn’t prepared for. With this film he is clearly trying to say nothing is impossible & imagination has no bounds. Be your level of crazy for that might be the change world or at the minimum, art needs.
This movie is all about Nag Ashwin’s brilliance for me. The vision was translucent on the big screen but there was more I picked on. Despite being his third film, Nag Ashwin has managed to find a balance & shattered certain challenges that come with such a big film. He is able to build three different worlds in one film and make us buy into the parallel narratives running without getting us overwhelmed & confused. He is able to do justice to the four superstars he has onboard without diluting the arc of one for the other or letting one star overshadow the other. He doesn’t let the women in the narrative get sidelined either for the males to shine. This a director confident in his characters & a credible investment for the stars invested in him. He redefines the concept of screentime, experience an actor needs to leave an impact by having Shobana and Anna Ben in his frame. They have minutes to seconds but no viewer is going to leave the theatre forgetting them. How often do you get to see such an all rounded craftsmanship from a director?
Another thing about the movie that I absolutely enjoyed is how Kalki finds a balance between visuals and storytelling. While cinematic extravagance often gives weight to the visuals, Kalki is one film where I think the visuals are safe from troll element in their conceptualization. The genre offers enough scope for the improbable, yet Nag Ashwin ensures the fine tuning is crisp and whatever visuals grace the screen leaves a searing impact on our mind. On the other end, the narrative blends the visuals with a storyline that connects the unthinkable and the unmerging elements fluidly into a three hour canvas. Thus, Nagi manages to create ‘scenes’ aka ‘moments’ onscreen while telling us an engaging storyline.
Another common challenge faced by these big scale ambitions is its ‘inspiration quotient’ from western films. That’s another talking point of the magician Nag Ashwin’s artistry. For example, Deepika’s walk through the fire is already making noise on it’s very first day. Her jahuar scene is still very much relevant and the obvious commonality would be too much to ignore for even a normal cinegoer. But when you actually see how Nag Ashwin has captured it you realise how that head words inspiration. He was openly vocal about being a fan of Deepika’s performance in Padmavati. By getting the same actor to do the fire scene in Kalki, Nag Ashwin is trying to say something. The different tonality, getup, emotional layout maintained in the fire scene in Kalki as opposed to the narrative and visual aesthetic in the Jauhar scene of Padmavati, Nag Ashwin is simply telling us how it’s done. Inspiration doesn’t translate as copying but getting the goosebumps that spiked on your skin once level a notch higher with your own creativity.
Another feather on Nag Ashwin’s cap is how he has got his star cast working right irrespective of their credentials and superstardom. When was the last time you felt like whistling for Amitabh Bachchan or Shobana? It wasn’t just me but the theatre went bonkers when the legends donned their action avatar and splashed the screen with an unbelievable fierceness. Also a pan India mass hero being willing to get trashed around and not be made to ‘win’ at the end of a fight scene was a nice touch and quite daring if I may add given the crazy fan following a pan India hero like Prabhas carries. Deepika staying put delivering poignant emotions as Anna Ben sparkled with swag is another highlight. You see legends, superstars staying true to their character’s element and yet not having to dilute their stardom or impact. The intelligent writing lends that strength to each character to be vulnerable, flawed & weak when needed and the smart writing also enables each star to own their aura and power to leave a lasting impact. What a balance from the stellar actors and the captain of the ship.
Another striking feature of Kalki & its director is how the film blends the class & mass genre in one film. As the storyline gets gripping with three main leads coming together in one scene, the narrative is tight with tension & visual grammar gets coated in high octane action but the storytelling & dialogues lend comic relief to the audience. The classy scene gets massy when Bachchan’s character defines power and strength and Prabhas rumbles in frustration & holds his fort. One of the standout scenes in the climax where again all three leads come in one line, the theatre erupted with hoots and claps. Such moments are sprinkled all along the narrative not allowing you to box the movie into the class or mass bracket. The scope for both is evident and part 2 is going to tip the scales higher.
All said and done the film is not without its flaws. If you want to nitpick we can talk about the pacing or abrupt editing etc. But the flaws are minor in the larger scheme of things and if anything I feel a guarantee that part 2 is going to make sure those errors doesn’t repeat. You sense a guarantee in the film for a step up in the next part and the plot details revealed to make us wait for part 2 are intriguing. The way the film concludes is a major highlight for me. The emotional grammar between the leads swing in 180 by the end and Nagi delivers a last layer of crust as he offers the final plot detail of the past to have us gasping at his sharp thinking. If I’m reading it right he began the story placing characters in one format and by the end of it he has them all shuffled around with an element of roleshifting that interpretations can run wild on what would unfold in the next part. That’s yet another mastero by Nag Ashwin, the filmmaker who is hellbent on deconstructing and rewriting anything and everything that crosses his mind’s paper. Waiting to be fed even more in the coming part. Meanwhile if you are interested in experiencing cinema, visual storytelling and show of spectacles then don’t miss out on Kalki 2898 Ad in theatres.
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