Screening Kalki 2898 AD on the Busan Worldwide Movie Pageant (BIFF) this 12 months, producers Swapna Dutt and Priyanka Dutt advised Deadline that considered one of their objectives is to safe distribution for the movie in China and Korea.
Raking in $140M at field places of work globally to date, sci-fi epic Kalki 2898 AD is the highest-grossing Indian movie of 2024. With a reported price range round 600 crore rupees ($72M), the movie can be estimated to be one of many most expensive Indian movies ever made. The movie stars Amitabh Bachchan, Kamal Haasan, Prabhas, Deepika Padukone and Disha Patani.
Kalki 2898 AD sequel and different movies in manufacturing
A second instalment is on the way in which and the producers, who’re additionally sisters, mentioned that round 35 to 40 p.c of the shoot for the sequel have been accomplished. They intend to select up manufacturing once more within the second quarter of 2025 and full the movie by the tip of the 12 months — and hope to proceed increasing the Kalki Cinematic Universe with many extra titles.
“The primary half has finished nice in India, North America and UK, amongst others,” Swapna mentioned. “The movie has the potential to journey world wide and we wish the primary half to journey much more earlier than releasing the second half.”
Swapna added: “Is Kalki impressed by Marvel? I wouldn’t say impressed but it surely undoubtedly has given us a lot to study. I believe it’s an awesome achievement to have placed on a visible expertise that others have in comparison with Marvel.”
Kalki 2898 AD had its first screening on the competition’s largest theater — the 4,000-seater BIFF Theater on the Busan Cinema Middle.
Kalki 2898 AD can be the third highest-grossing Telugu movie of all time, simply behind S. S. Rajamouli’s RRR.
“We’ve began crossing every kind of borders and turning into one Indian cinema, with Telugu now being heard as probably the most vital languages in Indian cinema,” Swapna mentioned.
Each Swapna and Priyanka are additionally engaged on Champion, a love story set in 1955, directed by Pradeep Advaitham, with the title already in manufacturing. They’re additionally in pre-production for Aakasam Lo Oka Tara, directed by Pavan Sadineni.
The unequalled complexity and scale of Kalki 2898 AD have pushed the battle-hardened and seasoned sisters to a different degree of filmmaking. “After Kalki, every little thing appears to be very simple,” Swapna mentioned. “The individuals who labored on Kalki and are actually engaged on these different movies say the identical. For Kalki, we needed to handle 1000 issues a day, whereas for these two movies, it’s like 20 to 30 issues.”
A household enterprise
Kalki 2898 AD has been a household enterprise for Swapna and Priyanka. The movie was made underneath the manufacturing firm Vyjayanthi Motion pictures, which was arrange by their father, Chalasani Aswani Dutt, who additionally holds producer credit on the movie. Kalki 2898 AD is directed by Nag Ashwin, who’s Priyanka’s husband.
“This household relationship makes it each troublesome in addition to simple. On the great aspect of issues, this provides me numerous energy, as a result of making cinema is itself a dangerous enterprise, particularly making a movie of this scale,” Swapna mentioned.
Priyanka added: “We will rely upon one another, whether or not it’s one thing unfavourable or constructive, we all know that we’re there for one another to speak, determine it out and resolve issues collectively.”
Each sisters mentioned that they will hint the seed for Kalki 2898 AD again to a dialog that that they had along with Ashwin at their father’s dwelling round mid-2019, though they acknowledge that Ashwin had the concept for the movie from way back to 2014.
“My dad was the one who taught us how you can dream within the language of cinema,” Swapna mentioned. “He at all times needed to make bigger movies with larger abilities, like social fantasies, in order that’s the sort of cinema we grew up with.”
Priyanka mentioned: “My dad used to come back dwelling and there have been at all times these discussions about profitable movies, or how a sure movie was shot, or how he made a sure track or script.”
Nonetheless, Swapna mentioned that she had thought-about different ventures exterior of filmmaking earlier than committing to the craft. She had a stint in Ohio whereas pursuing a grasp’s diploma there and entertained various profession paths. Priyanka additionally had a stint in Los Angeles whereas pursuing her undergraduate diploma at UCLA.
In addition to the Telugu movies that they watched whereas rising up, each sisters mentioned that Hollywood movies like Jurassic Park additionally impressed them.
Additionally they mentioned that cinema has now entered a special age, the place individuals are extra open to watching movies in different languages and from completely different elements of the world.
“Again within the day, we couldn’t experiment or increase the bar of cinema past a degree, as a result of we had sure limitations,” Swapna mentioned. “Now, the world is watching Telugu cinema, and so all we’ve got to do is a crack story and have good actors on board. If we do this, the sky is the restrict.”
