There’s no doubt that Nag Ashwin’s Kalki 2898 AD starring Prabhas, Amitabh Bachchan, Kamal Haasan and Deepika Padukone is one of the most highly anticipated films of the year. A unique blend of Hindu mythology and science fiction, it revolves around a modern avatar of Lord Vishnu, who has descended on Earth to protect the world from the forces of evil. No conversations about plagiarism (Deepika’s first look poster from the film bore an uncanny resemblance to Zendaya’s from Dune and Hollywood concept artist Oliver Beck claimed that two frames in the trailer were copied from his work) could deter the hype surrounding Kalki 2898 AD.
A star-studded cast, exceptional visual effects and Santhosh Narayanan’s background score remain the highlight of the magnum opus. As of June 24, over 2.1 lakh tickets have reportedly been sold with a revenue of Rs 6.25 crore within 24 hours. In North America, it sold over 1,13,000 tickets and collected USD 3 million on day one. Interestingly, it has recorded a massive non-theatrical business even before its theatrical release, reportedly garnering Rs 375 crore from selling its rights to different OTT platforms.
With Kalki 2898 AD just a day away from its big release, News18 Showsha exclusively catches up with trade gurus, who share their predictions about the film. Producer and film business expert Girish Johar says that expectations from it are ‘mammoth’. He lauds the casting coup pulled by Ashwin and says, “The scale and the size that it has been mounted on makes it one of the biggest films for the film fraternity so far.”
Talking about the advance bookings, he states, “Based on what we’re witnessing down south, the first day numbers are going to be humungous. Prabhas has a huge fan following overseas as well where his films do well. In the Hindi belt, the first trailer did not cut it but the second trailer which was recently launched has raised a lot of expectations. On the whole, in all languages, I’m pretty confident it is set for a fantastic start with Rs 100 crore gross on day one for all languages.”
Interestingly, Prabhas’ Salaar registered one of the biggest openings of 2023. The film had reportedly collected Rs 95 crore in India alone and recorded an opening day collection of Rs 178.7 crore worldwide gross.
Meanwhile, the official trailer of Kalki 2898 AD was released on June 10 with a second one being unveiled on June 21. And much like Johar, Chennai-based trade expert Ramesh Bala also agrees that it was the second trailer that worked like magic. Confident that the film will set a new precedent for Telugu cinema this year, he tells us, “Prabhas’ movies are all event films and so is Kalki. There weren’t really any big films in Telugu that came out this year, so this could be the first one followed by Pushpa 2.”
So, what’s his prediction of the day one figures? “The buzz is really good, especially in the South. It has also picked up in the Hindi belt. I’m expecting Rs 100 crore nett with the majority coming from the Telugu belt followed by Rs 20-25 crore from the Hindi version. So, the day one opening should be around Rs 130 crore gross in India,” Bala remarks.
Another trade guru Atul Mohan also has ‘very high’ expectations from Kalki 2898 AD. “The opening, particularly in the South, will be phenomenal. Tickets for day one have been practically sold out in Telugu-speaking states like Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. I’m expecting the numbers to be above Rs 70 crore in south India,” he says. Surprised that its buzz and advance booking is ‘dramatic’ even in North India, he adds, “A few days back, there was a little buzz but in the last four days, the enquiries and the bookings related to Kalki have taken everyone by surprise. Even small centres in UP and Bihar are asking for the film in theatres and the advance booking is very good.”
However, despite his predictions, Bala admits that recovering the budget (Rs 600 crore, reportedly) may be an uphill task. “A quick budget recovery will be tough but it will be able to in the long run, provided the word of mouth are above average and unless there is a last surprise with a big reveal. But if the reviews are positive, it can recover the budget in its lifetime,” he opines.
So, what are the other things working in favour of Kalki 2898 AD apart from those stated above? “The overall packaging is great – there’s Bachchan sir and Deepika from the Hindi film industry, Kamal Haasan from Tamil cinema and Prabhas from Tollywood. Kalki is a true-blue pan-Indian film. There are artists from all the industries coming together in it. If we observe closely, they’ve targeted each and every prominent personality from all the industries. That’s a very smart and innovative strategy on the part of the makers,” points out Mohan, adding that it ‘has one of the best VFX in recent times’.
Kalki 2898 AD is set for a theatrical release on June 27 in Telugu, Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada languages. set in a post-apocalyptic world, the film also stars Disha Patani, Saswata Chatterjee, Mrunal Thakur and Dulquer Salmaan. Keerthy Suresh has lent her voice to Bujji, a futuristic robot car.
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