This is third Telugu film to enter the prestigious club after 'Baahubali: The Conclusion' and 'RRR', both SS Rajamouli films.
Published Jul 13, 2024 | 2:59 PM ⚊ Updated Jul 15, 2024 | 10:54 AM
'Kalki 2898 AD' achieves the ₹1,000-crore milestone. (X)
Director Nag Ashwin’s latest release, Kalki 2898 AD, has grossed over ₹1000 crore at the global box office. The makers of the epic sci-fi drama revealed this news on social media on Saturday, 13 July.
Sharing the update, Vyjayanthi Movies (the production house that bankrolled the pan-Indi film), thanked the audience across the world for embracing their work with open hearts.
Kalki 2898 AD thus became the third Telugu film to achieve the remarkable milestone of ₹1000-crore gross globally. Prabhas’s Baahubali: The Conclusion (2017) and Jr NTR-Ram Charan’s RRR (2022) entered the prestigious club earlier. Interestingly, these two films were helmed by maverick director SS Rajamouli.
Baahubali: The Conclusion grossed over ₹1,810 crore worldwide across all languages, while RRR registered a gross collection of over ₹1,387 crore. Only time will tell if Kalki 2898 AD would beat the records set by these Rajamouli films.
Besides Prabhas, the Nag Ashwin directorial also boasts a stellar cast including Amitabh Bachchan, Kamal Haasan, Deepika Padukone, Disha Patani, Anna Ben, and Saswata Chatterjee. The film also features cameo appearances by many celebrities: Vijay Deverakonda, Mrunal Thakur, Dulquer Salmaan, Malvika Nair, SS Rajamouli, Ram Gopal Varma, and KV Anudeep.
Actor Krishnakumar aka KK, who played Lord Krishna in the film, became the talk of the town after he revealed the news in an Instagram post. Arjun Das lent his voice to Krishnakumar’s role. Speculations were rife that either Nani or Mahesh Babu could have played the character.
Despite his brief appearance in part 1 of Kalki 2898 AD, Kamal Haasan stole the show as the Supreme Yaskin, the fierce antagonist. The actor will play a full-length role in part 2 of the film.
The Tamil superstar said he was in awe of Amitabh Bachchan’s performance as Ashwatthama. “I am torn between calling him a seasoned veteran or a fresh actor because he portrayed his role remarkably,” the actor-director-politician quipped.
Meanwhile, director Nag Ashwin said he made Kalki 2898 AD for all audiences, with a special focus on children. “I made this film with my 10-year-old self in mind. I wanted it to be something that I would enjoy watching, sparking lots of questions, imagination, and curiosity. Seeing kids taking photos or videos with Bujji fills me with wonder,” he told the media, after the tremendous success of the film.
1000 CRORES and counting…💥
This milestone is a celebration of your love. We poured our hearts into this film, and you embraced it with open hearts.
Thank you to the audience across the world ❤️ #Kalki2898AD #1000CroreKalki@SrBachchan @ikamalhaasan #Prabhas @deepikapadukone… pic.twitter.com/wGen7N8V9t
— Vyjayanthi Movies (@VyjayanthiFilms) July 13, 2024
Kalki 2898 AD has been made with a whopping budget of ₹600 crore. The sci-fi action drama with mythological elements opened to critical and positive reviews globally on 27 June. It was released in Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, Hindi, and English and is still running to packed houses.
Interestingly, the film outperformed Kamal Haasan-Shankar‘s much-anticipated Tamil film Indian 2 (Bharateeyudu 2 in Telugu) and Akshay Kumar-Sudha Kongara’s Bollywood film Sarfira, a remake of Suriya-starrer Award-winning Tamil film Soorarai Pottru (2020). The original was also directed by Sudha Kongara.
It was thought that these two major films would affect the box-office collection of Kalki 2898 AD. However, Indian 2 proved to be a disappointment and Sarfira, despite winning critical reviews, failed to pull crowds to theatres.
Indian 2 is a sequel to the 1996 blockbuster Tamil film Indian and marked the return of Kamal as Senapathy, a freedom fighter-cum vigilante. On the other hand, Sarfira is a biographical drama based on the life of GR Gopinath, the founder of the Indian low-cost airline Simplifly Deccan aka Air Deccan.
(Edited by Y Krishna Jyothi)
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