Mahabharat star Nitish Bharadwaj recently lauded Nag Ashwin’s film, Kalki 2898 AD. The veteran actor said, “Hindi film producers must learn from the South as they are so deeply rooted in our scriptures and epics that even their inspirational versions seem correct,” he said 

In an interaction with News18, Bharadwaj praised the Ashwin for making “clever use of Mahabharat characters and the futuristic birth of Kalki.” 

He also highlighted the visual inspiration of the movie from Mad Max series and said that despite that the movie seemed different to him as the sets and production design were less important to me than the foreground story. “Ashwin merged the 2 extremely well,” he told to News 18. 

Bharadwaj’s appreciation for the Nag Ashwin directorial came a day after Mukesh Khanna, known for playing Pitamah Bhishm in BR Chopra’s television series Mahabharat, criticised the film for changing elements of the Mahabharata. 

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.  

“One thing that is bothering me is that they have tried to change the mythology in the film,” he said. Khanna also suggested that a committee should be established to oversee films based on Indian mythology. 

Bharadwaj also shared his prediction of the plot of the Kalki 2898 AD sequel. “Prabhas, aka Karna, will die in the ambition of being accepted by the villain despite Ashwatthama (Amitabh Bachchan) and Krishna showing him the path to redemption,” Bharadwaj said.  

He teased that in the sequel, Nag Ashwin doesn’t need to hide Krishna’s face and he is available to take up the role. 

Kalki 2898 AD created history at the box office by becoming the third biggest opener in Indian cinema as it earned massive Rs 191 crore globally on its opening day. It has surpassed the global opening records of KGF 2 (Rs 159 crore), Salaar (Rs 158 crore), Leo (Rs 142.75 crore), Sahoo (Rs 130 crore) and Jawan (Rs 129 crore). RRR still remains the highest Indian opener with Rs 223 crore collections, followed by Baahubali 2 which grossed over Rs 217 crore on its opening day.  

Nag Ashwin’s ambitious 3D spectacle Kalki 2898 AD is touted as the most expensive film to be produced in India at a reported budget of Rs 600 crore. The mythological and sci-fi action drama released globally on June 27 in Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, Hindi and English.  

Kalki 2898 AD, produced by Vyjayanthi Movies, stars Amitabh Bachchan, Kamal Haasan, Deepika Padukone, Prabhas, Disha Patani, Saswata Chatterjee and Shobhana among others. 

On July 6, the makers announced that Kalki 2898 AD had surpassed the Rs 800 crore mark in worldwide box office earnings. Ashwin has also revealed plans for the highly-anticipated sequel of Kalki 2898 AD. The film is now within the touching distance of the Rs 1000-crore mark.