Kalki 2898 AD starring Prabhas, Amitabh Bachchan and Deepika Padukone released on June 27.
Nag Ashwin said that he was also inspired by the Star Wars franchise for Kalki 2898 AD.
Nag Ashwin’s Kalki 2898 AD has been making waves at the box office. However, the film has also subjected itself to comparisons with Hollywood classics like Harry Potter, Dune and Mad Max. While Nag Ashwin has previously dismissed these claims, he recently revealed the two films that his Prabhas-starrer is inspired by.
During a recent chat with Zoom, the filmmaker was asked if he was inspired by the Iron Man franchise. Nag said, “We grew up watching Marvel films. I would say Guardians of the Galaxy was more of an influence than Iron Man. Definitely, Star Wars is a huge influence. I love Star Wars, so that is subconsciously a part of my aesthetic.” He added that Harshith Reddy’s character Luke was inspired by Star Wars’, Luke Skywalker.
However, when asked about Kamal Haasan’s Yaskin’s similarity to Harry Potter’s Voldemort, Nag said that the fantasy series was not an inspiration for him. “Our references were these old Tibetan monks, who are supposed to be 120-130 years old. Sir (Kamal Haasan) was always mentioning the portrait of Dorian Grey (from Oscar Wilde’s 1890 philosophical novel The Picture of Dorian Grey). That was sir’s inspiration. We didn’t have many movie references for that ancient look.” He added that the only Harry Potter reference was Vinay Kumar’s character Sirius, like Harry Potter character Sirius Black.
Meanwhile, Kalki 2898 AD has been unstoppable at the box office. As per Sacnilk.com, Kalki 2898 AD collected Rs 507 crore in India alone. Kalki 2898 AD was made with a massive budget. In an interview with NDTV, Nag Ashwin revealed Prabhas believed in the project even when things got tough for the team. “He really believed in the project from the get-go. He believed even when things were taking too long, even when things were hard. He always believed in my project and in my vision. Even though I was only two films old, he was the biggest cheerleader for the film. He would say, ‘This is going to be massive, it’s going to be bigger than everything.’”
“He was pumping us up because we needed it, but he really believed in it. There were times when we would sit and talk, and those pumps were what we needed to get through. He was fully on board with this film once he signed on,” the filmmaker added.
Kalki 2898 AD is inspired from Mahabharata. Set in a dystopian future, the film revolves around four people — a pregnant woman named SUM-80 (Deepika Padukone), who is said to be carrying a child that is the 10th avatar of Vishnu; the immortal Ashwatthama (played by Amitabh Bachchan) who has been tasked to protect the unborn child; a ruthless villain named Supreme Yaskin (Kamal Haasan), who wants the child dead for he knows the child will be the end of the baddie; and Bhairava (Prabhas), a bounty hunter who would sell anyone in return of money.
