Kalki 2898 AD (Telugu) 7/10

The anticipation for this Vyjayanthi Movies backed Prabhas venture reaching an all time high in Prabhas's film discography , i watched the Dystopian future film based on the end of the Kalyug with great excitement but knowing Prabhas's previous releases i held low hopes.

This film initially shot in Telugu really feels awkward and annoying to the ears in the hindi dub but in contrast the telugu version is by far the best version to the film in if you wish to still use you ears after this 3hr 1 min film.

The film truly feels grand in its vision and the star studded cast backs the vision that the director, Nag Ashwin, and the producers hold for this franchise. 

The film succumbs to the trope of having a female character whose sole purpose in the film is to further the main leads narrative arc. Disha Patani with her character Roxie only serves as an entry point for Prabhas to enter the Complex and for a song and dance scene. 

One major issue i had while watching the film are the abrupt cuts between scenes and scenes not getting enough time to breathe on their own. This aspect of the film infuriated me to no end as just as get fully absorbed into a scene and start preparing yourself for a change the scene just cuts up. 

I'm no editor but it seems really sloppy to my eyes.

What film gets spot on is the VFX and the Mahabharata flashbacks as well as the makeup and look of characters such as Ashwatthama and the Supreme Yaskin played by Amitabh Bachchan and Kamal Hassan respectively.

the Mahabharata acenes really feel as if they belong to a movie dedicated to the epic and acts as a source to excited you for the upcoming film. (the film starts with a flashback to the Mahabharata). 

the acting by the veteran professionals and most of the cast is delivered as per the requirement of the scene (save for Prabhas from time to time). Making it one aspect you wont go home about but its no Adipurush atleast that I can reassure you of.

the film with its concept feels like a breath of fresh air in todays time which is marred by remakes and sequel series on the silver screen. 

Deepika and her character SUM80 portrays the mother of the soon to be born Kalki (the titular character) who will take down the evil that is supreme Yaskin. Deepika is as usual a fantastic actor who understands the role she has and portrays the anger and frustration of being stuck in a situation where she understands almost nothing perfectly and nothing about her presence takes away from the film. 

There are also multiple cameos by popular actors in this film which range from Dulquer Salman to Vijay Deverakonda and even Mrunal Thakur. 

the ending of the film sets up a sequel where ashwatthama has to take back sumati (Deepika) from Bhairava (Prabhas) and sumati giving birth to lord Kalki setting up the classic good vs evil fight with Kamal Hassan leading the evil force of the world with his mystical powers that seem to defy even death itself.

Ultimately this movie is a good watch to invest yourself in the Kalki Universe (if you can tolerate the unnecessary jokes in the 1st half that land mostly flat) and shows that Indian films can stand on their own feet in the dystopian future/sci-fi genre.