Prabhas was always going to have a crucial 2023. The Telugu star is one of the biggest stars of the country. The fanbase that he possess might even make the Khans jealous. Two of the star’s biggest releases were lined up in 2023 – Adipurush and Salaar. Adipurush was Om Raut’s magnum opus that was mounted on an unimaginable scale of rs. 600-700 crores. Part of the reason that this budget was assigned had to be Prabhas’ casting as Ram. Salaar is Prashant Neel’s next movie after making the two KGF movies which are the most successful films of the Kannada film industry. Such an important year in Prabhas’ career and it certainly hasn’t started the right way. Adipurush is facing massive backlash and Indian audiences are rejecting the movie meaning it would be a huge financial failure.
Salaar on the other hand didn’t impress a lot of people with its first teaser as it seems like a semblance of KGF. So does this mean this is rock bottom for Prabhas? Just when we thought that Salaar is make or break for the star, another update came our way that Prabhas has been signed in another big budget blockbuster from Nag Ashwin – Project K. The film has a massive cast including the biggest names in the country. It appears so that three box office failures on a trot has not dented Prabhas’ superstar status. We were told that the first look of the Nag Ashwin directorial will be revealed at the San Diego Comic Con and now that it is here I have some thoughts to share.
Can Project K Finally Pull Prabhas Out Of His Slump?
Getting to the first order of business, Project K is now called Kalki 2898 AD. The star power of Prabhas has to be judged for the fact that there are only two Indian films with a budget of over rs. 600 crores and both of them have Prabhas as their leading man. Yes, Kalki 2898 AD’s budget is rs. 600 as well. Astonishing, isn’t it? I know I might face the wrath of Prabhas’ fans for saying this but I was underwhelmed by Kalki 2898 AD’s first look. From the first frame it felt like a marriage between Star Wars and Dune, in a bad way.
I believe the sets are too similar. The world and costumes that they’ve created resemble these two epic tales from the west. I appreciate the touch of Hindu mythology but that feels tokenism. Prabhas honestly looks formidable as the lead. His look has been done well. We have no idea of the plot but considering the uncanny similarity to Star Wars one can guess easily that Kamal Hassan would be the Darth Vader of this world and have his own rendition of The Empire. Prabhas and his tribe would be the rebels who will seek revenge for their fallen leader.
I was most intrigued by Amitabh Bachchan’s mummy like character and Deepika who seemed troubled by something which she can’t express. The scale of the film is undoubtedly enormous but I’m not so sure about the vision as what we’ve seen until now look like borrowed concepts. Hopefully, this is not the truth and the filmmaker has reserved all the meat of the story for us to experience in theatres.
Watch the first look of Kalki 2898 AD on YouTube:
The film stars Prabhas, Amitabh Bachchan, Deepika Padukone, Kamal Hassan, Rana Daggubati, Disha Patani, Dulqueer Salman and Gaurav Chopra. Project K or Kalki 2898 is slated to release in theatres near you sometime in January 2024.
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