Kalki 2898 AD Director Says Casting Amitabh Bachchan With Prabhas Was ‘Commercially Driven Decision’

Kalki 2898 AD hit the big screens on June 27 and was one of the most awaited movies of the year. Set 6000 years after the Kurukshetra war, the movie directed by Nag Ashwin combines elements of the Indian epic Mahabharata with science fiction. The movie boasts an ensemble cast featuring Prabhas, Amitabh Bachchan, Deepika Padukone, Disha Patani and Kamal Haasan along with multiple actors in cameo roles. In a new interview, the filmmaker shared why he decided to cast actors from all parts of the country for the magnum opus. 

‘It was a commercially-driven decision but I wanted representation’, says Nag Ashwin on Kalki 2898 AD casting

Kalki 2898 AD features several cameos from stars across the film industry in India. Sharing the reason behind casting actors from practically every film industry of India, Nag Ashwin told IANS: “In a way, it was a commercially-driven decision but I wanted representation from every language or state in our film. So, we consciously tried to take artiste from all across the country be it Gujarati, Punjabi, Bengali, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi and others.
 

When asked about the trick to handle so many big stars in the film, the director told IANS that there isn’t any trick and that all the actors involved in the project are thorough professionals which makes the job of a filmmaker much easier. “All the stars are so mature and experienced that they knew exactly what they needed to do, and they knew their purpose. They made life quite easy for us on the sets, and being such great actors they really elevated what was there on paper to something much greater,” he added.

Nag Ashwin shares his response on the massive box office collection of Kalki 2898 AD

Ever since its release on June 27, Kalki 2898 AD has been attracting an audience to housefull theatres. The film has netted Rs 536 crore in India and looks unstoppable. Talking about his state of mind given the stellar response to the film at the box office, the director called it “a lot of satisfaction.”

Set in a post-apocalyptic world in the year 2898 AD, Kalki 2898 AD follows a select group on a mission to save Kalki, the unborn child of SUM-80 (played by Deepika), a lab subject.