KALKI : the book vs. KALKI 2898AD : the movie

INTRO

I read KALKI trilogy by Kevin Missal recently and stalled watching KALKI 2898AD for almost 3 months and boy what an experience it was!! Kalki trilogy : Avatar of Vishnu, Eye of Brahma, Sword of Shiva, is a fictional storyline based on the Hindu mythological scriptures. As I was reading this, I developed a sense of interest for mythology and stuffs, and man it is one true fascination. While reading the first book, the description of action sequences were just absolutely lit, I even thought that Kevin is the SS Rajamouli of writing (though i haven't read much about others' work). The way he elevates the main character, the significance of side characters in the battlefield was extraordinary. Well more on scripture, it says after the death of Shri Krishna, the yug of evil starts namely Kaliyug, in which we live right now. And it exists for 4,32,000 human years, till the end of this Mahayug, which consists of 4 different yugs: Satyayug (17,28,000 human years long - where kindness was 100% around). Secondly, Tretayug (12,96,000 humans years long - where kindness detoriates by a quarter and it was the time when Ramayan happened). Thirdly, Dwaparayug (8,64,000 human years long - where kindness is reduced to half and it was the time when Mahabharat happened) and finally, the current Kaliyug, where kindness is just quarter in whole and in which we've approximately 5000 human years have passed stating, 4,21,000 (approx.) human years left in this yug, Phew! A lot more to come but still fascinating, isn't it. How tiny are we compared to the entire time cycle which is an entirely mind boggling concept according to the Scriptures as well as science. And how novice and imbecile are we citing personal vendetta, bitterness, ego, jealous. Kiddish, isn't it. In the current age, Kalki - 10th and last avatar of Vishnu appears and ends the evil for once and for all. That's all said and done, lets talk about the book and film.

KALKI - TRILOGY :

The story starts with a young boy from Shambala, Kalki Hari, son of Vishnuyath and Sumathi, has no idea about his heritage until he encounters tragedies and battles. The story begins with establishing Kali (the antagonist) and how sharp, cunning, skilled he is. Meanwhile, Kalki as an young, lazy guy who just roams around his village. The character arc of Kalki was well written and very convincing that I felt that he is the avatar himself. When Kali fell ill and fights for death, his sister Durukti gets to know about Soma which cures any disease but the local village (Shambala) resists in giving it to the outside world. What happened next? Will she get the somalata for his brother? If so, will there be any effects and changes on his health. How does Kalki becomes the avatar (dharm) and Kali becomes the adharm, or is there any more surprise? that's a pretty good read. 

As said, this is a work of fiction, thus the author have taken the liberty of referencing characters from past and introducing fictional characters as well. Well, there are few interesting crossover from mythological characters and events which was well written. The other characters of Padma, Manasa, Durukti, Vibhishan, Koko and Vikoko and few interesting characters were also developed properly with proper space and character justifications.

The execution of scene, staging and blocking was phenomenal. The ideologies of Kali was impressive tbh. Apart from the main characters, even the side characters who had less impact on a whole still had a character arc. As all the pros said and done, now about the cons. The only problem that I had with this is the disappointing climax, Man why would you spoil it. It was perfect with all sublevel texts and stories, the story moves at least in 4-5 different places simultaneously and the author have juggled it very well and comprehensively without confusing, kudos for it. However, towards the climax when converging everything at a single point, it ends where it all started, Shambala (birth place of Kalki), he fumbled it up completely. It was a complete mess in the end. In acknowledgement section I found that it was a suggestion from editorial team to change the climax and it was a complete disaster. Guess, the author would've went with the conventional climax for this epic where the team have thought about an unconventional ending which sadly didn't yield the result. Apart from that, it took me around 3 months to complete this entire trilogy over 1200 pages. Would I recommend this? Those who have interest in mythology, fantasy, utopian world should read this, if not the loss is yours. 

KALKI 2898AD - THE MOVIE :

I stalled watching this film, because I started reading the first part of the trilogy and i got pumped for the film. It was worth the wait with the grandeur visuals and VFX. The problem with the wait of over 3 months is that I was spoiled with the major plot twist of the film; Prabhas is the reincarnation of Karnan. Even the director of film had his own fictional plot and has set his own fictional world from the scriptures, it was quite enjoyable. Barring the average first half, the second half was a cracker. OH MY LORD!! Big B as Ashwathama and his characterisation was terrific. His character was perfectly written and executed, oh boy he literally brought ashwathama onto the screen. Even Kamal's portion as supreme yaskin were also terrific though he appeared for just 2 scenes, it was worthy. Prabhas I felt he had a half baked characterisation and kinda felt it as extended cameo from him. Interval scene, Climax and part-2 lead was amazing. Overall, it was a good cinematic experience with subtle and subpar music/bgm i'd say. Even the cameos in the film was nice and entertaining; DQ, Mrunal, VDK, KV Anudeep and SS Rajamouli. I was spoiled with DQ, Mrunal and VDK but Rajamouli was unexpected. After reading the book and watching the film, now i realise how grandeur it'd have been if Rajamouli had directed Kalki instead of Nag Ashwin. No offence, but the average first half was just weakly written with no character developments and unexciting moments. Film started to pace up only after the entry of Big B. Guess i'll be the last one to review this film, but better late than never. Here's a snap of Amitabh Bachchan and Kamal Haasan that I liked in the film:

Finally, I conclude my blog with an enthralling experience with the mythology-fiction world and hoping for a proper flick from the director with the sequel. Until then, signing off.

With love
ΛV