Shaktimaan and Mahabharat actor Mukesh Khanna voiced his problem with the film Kalki 2898 AD, and said that certain films shouldn't be passed by the CBFC.
Actor Mukesh Khanna, who played Bhishma in BR Chopra’s television series Mahabharat, offered his review of the film Kalki 2898 AD, which has been heavily inspired by the Hindu epic. In a video posted on his YouTube channel, the actor said that while he enjoyed the film and admired its production values, he found certain aspects to be problematic. He said that he found the filmmakers’ decision to change elements of the Mahabharata to be offensive.
He said, “In the beginning, when Krishna curses Ashwatthama by removing his ‘mani’, this never happened. I want to ask the makers, how could you presume to know more than the Vyas muni, who said that what doesn’t exist here cannot exist elsewhere? It wasn’t Krishna who removed Ashwatthama’s ‘mani’. I’ve been reading the Mahabharata since childhood; I can tell you that it was Draupadi who instructed that his ‘mani’ should be removed, after he killed all five of her children.”
He continued, “There was a big battle between Arjun and Ashwatthama. They were wielding the ‘Brahmastra’, but only Arjun knew how to reverse the attack. Because Ashwatthama couldn’t, he decided to fire the Brahmastra towards Abhimanyu’s wife. Krishna protected her for nine months because she was pregnant. The reason I’m telling this story in such detail is because I don’t understand how Krishna could command Ashwatthama to protect him in the future in Kalki? How can someone as powerful as Krishna ask someone like Ashwatthama to protect him?”
Mukesh Khanna said that every Hindu should be offended by these changes, just like they were after watching Prabhas’ last film, Adipurush. “The liberties that you’ve taken are inexcusable. We think that South filmmakers have more respect for our traditions, but what happened here?” He said that the government should set up a special committee bestowed with the power to pass or reject any project with mythological connections on the script stage.
He said that the first half of the film was too slow for him and the people he went with, and suggested that the movie is designed to appeal to Western sensibilities. “The level of intellect with which the film has been made is fine for Hollywood. People are more intelligent than us over there. Forgive me, but audiences in Odisha and Bihar are not going to understand this kind of filmmaking.” he said. Otherwise, he said that he would like to award the film 100 points out of 100 for its scope, effects, and performances.
Starring Prabhas, Amitabh Bachchan, Deepika Padukone, Kamal Haasan and others, Kalki has made over Rs 700 crore worldwide in a week. It’s the highest-grossing Indian film of the year. In the past, Mukesh Khanna has also made critical videos about the film Adipurush, and Ranveer Singh being cast to play Shaktimaan in a film.