If there’s something that’s been lacking these days in my movie watching, it’s been enjoyable Telugu movies. For some reason, I found Kalki enjoyable.
To put plainly, Kalki is a mythological, dystopian action film. The Complex has taken all the goodness out of the world, leaving little natural resources or wealth for the people. Right by the Complex is Kasi, the last living city in the world—a place of 'refuge' for people. Girls who are deemed fertile in Kasi are taken inside the Complex for a madman’s science experiment. While there’s no official belief in religion anywhere in the city, some people have hope that there will be someone from wars of the past (the Mahabharata) who will be back as their savior.
Kalki isn’t just about Prabhas’s story—it’s about the stories of different characters within the city and the Complex. Prabhas plays Bhairava, a bounty hunter whose only goal is to go inside the Complex and enjoy its riches. Deepika plays SUM-80, someone who works for the supreme leader in the Complex and is trying to escape from it. Amitabh plays the massive Ashwathama, trying to protect Deepika from Prabhas. These stories race toward each other until they ultimately collide and explode. As overarching stories, it's beautiful how they interact with each other and their environment.
What surprised me was how the film managed to be its own thing, despite having so many tributes, references, and parallels. Kalki takes a lot from Dune, Zelda, Avatar, Korra, Baahubali, The Great Gatsby, Star Wars, Batman, the Mahabharatha (obviously), and more. Moreso visually, but some aspects of the characters and stories also had some resemblance. Every five to ten minutes, you could point out another piece of media that the film was oddly similar to. This didn't bother me as much as I thought it would, but instead became a point of discussion for me. It was the smaller details that really bothered me.
In a world with (seemingly) a lot of linguistic diversity, there is very little. We see billboards and signs in different languages, but everyone speaks Telugu or English. Kasi was supposed to be this awesome melting pot of the world, and yet they only have two spoken languages. I feel like there are so many missed opportunities there.
Consider the following: Kalki isn’t based on Hindu mythology. (Don't get me wrong—it isn't a bad idea at all to base it on mythology. It's just overused and sometimes unnecessary. It seems like a weird audience magnet.) We still remain in this city of destruction, with the Complex eating up the world. The dystopian setting, the bounty hunters, and the crime all remain. The stories we are introduced to originally are still the same: Prabhas still wants to go inside the Complex, Deepika is still trying to escape the Complex with her child, the Supreme is still doing his experiments, and the rebels are still rebelling. Prabhas and Deepika's story intertwine at the point when Prabhas manages to get inside the Complex. Eventually, it becomes the story of how two people are trying to escape Kasi and the Complex to go live in Shambala, the hidden land of peace, but are constantly being targeted by the Supreme. Basically, a cool dystopian, action-packed adventure movie. There's no need for an eight-foot-tall dude or any sort of mythological reasoning. We could finally get a regular, platonic relationship between a guy and a girl in a huge film. To me, this version of the movie would've been a whole lot better.
Regardless, I was happy that Prabhas didn’t eat up the screen time. The casting may have been odd at times, but the cameos were top-tier. I was definitely giggling in places I shouldn't have been, but it was an enjoyable experience. I would watch the sequel (and I will).