Nag shows us his take on the world’s descent into Kaliyuga, 6,000 years after Kurukshetra. It is a world where water isn’t free, god is banned (the deity of Kaasi is aptly forgotten thanks to memory rust), “units” replace “rupees” as form or currency, and the world is ruled by Supreme Yaskin, a disfigured floating creature (played by Kamal Haasan) who resides in a guarded colony known as the Complex, a kingdom that requires a person to carry a million units to be cleared entry. The world-building is intricate, and we see this through costumes, weapons of choice, and abodes. But is that enough? We never get answers for the “why” of it all. We’re never told “why” water is a precious commodity (like in Dune), for instance. Kaliyuga, on paper, sounds like a brilliant jumping-off point to capture on film, but Kalki 2898 AD seems to have missed an opportunity to really dig deep.
Spectacle That Doesn’t Leave Much Room For Emotion
