Nag Ashwin: Part two of ‘Kalki 2898 AD’ will be bigger with Kamal Haasan, as Yaskin, stepping out of his ‘vimanam’

Nag Ashwin interview: Part two of ‘Kalki 2898 AD’ will be bigger with Kamal Haasan, as Yaskin, stepping out of his ‘vimanam’. The sequel will see a clash involving Amitabh Bachchan, Kamal Haasan and Prabhas

On the outskirts of Hyderabad, in Shankarpally, stand the sets of director Nag Ashwin’s Telugu magnum opus Kalki 2898 AD, starring Amitabh Bachchan, Prabhas, Kamal Haasan, and Deepika Padukone. Tucked away at one end is an entrance to the mythical land of Shambala. Walking towards a flight of white stairs, Nag Ashwin says it is one of his favourite spots on the set. On several evenings, he would watch the setting sun from these steps. A portion of the sets have been damaged by rain and will be rebuilt for the sequel. For now, it’s a short break for him and his team. A day before heading out for a vacation, he settles down for this exclusive interview.

Gazing at the land on which the sets of Shambala have been built, Nag Ashwin explains, “We spent a lot of time conceptualising and creating colonies for people of different nationalities and religions inside Shambala; it was like city planning.” Shambala is depicted as a haven for people from varied ethnicities and religions, coming together hoping for a new dawn. “It is a microcosm of people looking for hope,” he adds, referring to characters of Rumi (Rajendra Prasad), Mariam (Shobhana), Kyra (Anna Ben), Veeran (Pasupathy) and several others. 

Nag reveals that he had even considered opening the film with events in Shambala, but later opted for the Kurukshetra portions that establish the plight of Ashwatthama. 

The hidden land of Shambala or Shangrila has been a part of the lore in Tibetan and Indian culture. Impenetrable Himalayan ranges paving the way to the entrance of Shambala is an ode to this belief; for book and movie lovers, it also conjures up images of the hidden kingdom of Wakanda (Black Panther) coming into view or the walls of the railway station paving the way for the platform number 9¾ in the Harry Potter series. “Some of these ideas were part of our subconscious thinking at the planning stage, because of what we have watched or read. By the time we had chalked out our plans and done the storyboards, people were familiar with Wakanda but it was too late to change things. However, Indian literature is also steeped with references to Shambala coming into view at a certain time near Kailasa; some people believe Shambala is within Kailasa.” 

Kalki 2898 AD is an ambitious amalgamation of Mahabharata and dystopian science fiction. Nag Ashwin is glad that the film has whetted the appetite of the audience, especially children and young adults, to know more about Indian epics. An avid fan of Star Wars while growing up and later, a fan of Marvel superhero films, he made Kalki with an intent to appeal to his ten-year-old self, but with a distinct Indian vision. 

“The idea of reimagining Kasi as the last surviving city was an interesting starting point,” says Nag. The film’s production designer Nitin Zihani Chaudhary had explained to this writer that the dwelling spaces of Ashwatthama, the people of Kasi and the Complex were designed to show how the demigods were underground while the evil forces or the rakshasas ruled from atop the Complex. Nag adds, “While walking on this surface, imagine if we begin wondering what if there is an ancient person from another yuga beneath the surface. Everything we were trying to depict about the kali yuga is a flip of the normal.”

Part one of Kalki teased the audience with the eerie ways of the Supreme Yaskin (Kamal Haasan) and his Project K. The murals that lead to his chamber depict the evolution of mankind. Positioned at the centre of a womb-like structure, Yaskin is at the threshold of another change. “Our idea was to introduce Yaskin as a mysterious, shadowy figure. A lot more about his backstory and his purpose will be in the second part. For now, we want the audience to know that Yaskin’s experiment has made him a superpower but he also created his nemesis; this sets into motion a set of events. It is a classic story of a villain creating his own nemesis.”