The "Kalki" Phenomenon
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Disclaimer: I penned this blog post long ago but releasing it on the occasion of the Kalki 2898A.D OTT release
It's been almost 5 days since I watched the movie but some elements remain in my mind reverberating at a constant hum. Hence I am putting my review in words so that I can get some closure(in a positive way😜) with the movie.
The Review
The movie starts at the end of Mahabharata where Lord Krishna confronts Aswathama on the battlefield of Kurukshetra. The visuals are exceptionally stunning in these sequences. The stories I have heard and read my entire life take a two-dimensional form in front of my eyes and are more flamboyant than I expected. The shot where the white horse runs behind Lord Krishna horripilated me. And as all good things come to an end, these scenes end and the movie takes us 6000 years in a time machine.
The dystopian world of Kashi city is well-built. The production design is thorough but the first half falls flat a few minutes after Prabhas' introduction. The unending fight sequences, The cameos that make you say "But why??🫤" and The song with Disha Patani in The Complex test your patience and make you wonder when the main story starts or did we get scammed again(Remember Adipurush?). I feel that the reason for this slow pace is due to the way the story has to split between the first and second parts. Some more informative scenes about the world of Kashi (like weapons or economy or food etc)could have been added instead of pointless cameos. But once Mr.Amitabh enters, the story shifts gears.
Before Dr.Amitabh, we must talk about Dr.Kamal Hasan. He looked in a way like a Buddhist monk who was in the process of becoming Sokushinbutsu. His appearance and performance are a sight for sore eyes in the first half. Especially when he says "భయపడకు మరొప్రపంచం వస్తుంది" is eargasm for Sri Sri fanatics. The fight sequence between Amitabh and Prabhas was very well choreographed leading to the end of the first half on a high note.
The city of Shambala shows a stark difference from Kashi. Director Nag Ashwin took good care of building something different from Kashi. In the second half, the song slowed screenplay again but the climax war sequences are a visual treat. It looked something like from Hollywood. Prabhas getting revealed as Karna is something unexpected.
Overall, the movie definitely have some flaws but it is a step in right direction. For international audience who does not know anything about The Mahabharata, this movie would not click for them. But this movie opens pathways for bigger movies to come. All the actors are aptly cast except for Vijay Devarakonda. Arjuna being an important character in the epic, the audience were expecting someone more nuanced. Music by Santosh Narayanan is Lit!! but I felt like he left a lot of opportunities on the table.
Glorifying Karna
Prabhas being cast as Karna has reinvigorated the discussion about whether Karna is good or bad. The Mahabharata being epic as it is has all the grey characters in it. Sometimes we tend to look only at some aspects of a person and judge rather than looking at everything as a whole. Karna is one such character. All his life was driven by hatred and envy towards Pandavas because he believed he belonged somewhere he could never be. I agree that Kunti shouldn't have abandoned him but she is also not planning to give birth that morning either. As fate would have it she read mantra to test its effectiveness in inviting Lord Surya without thinking of unintended consequences.
Coming back to our discussion, Karna, being raised by a stable family, and has everything he needs but he has grown up to be an angry, envious man. Everything that he learnt or achieved, he did it out of spite with Pandavas. One cannot simply be added as one of "Dushta Chatushtaya" without any reason. The Vyas Mahabharata is very clear about it. There were lot of other versions of Mahabharata like one by Villiputhurar which glorifies Karna. Members of Tamil intellectual society took the story of Karna and tried to portray it as higher caste atrocities on lower caste individuals like Karna. The Tamil industry has made the movie Karnan taking Villiputhurar's Mahabharata as a reference and NTR made Daana Veera Shoora Karna which also has these misrepresentations because of Kondaveeti Venkatakavi.
My problem here is there is Kalki continues the trend of whitewashing Karna. One generation is already disillusioned by watching movies like Karnan and DVSK, there is no need for the other generation to go on the same path. What if people in 2898AD believes that Hitler was actually a good leader who brought back Germany from WW1 with electrifying growth and prosperity and gave quotes like "Arbeit macht frei"(Work makes one free) and genocide never happened??
One who fails to understand history is doomed to repeat it. I am all for the creative liberties that are being taken and they have every right to do so. Our society should be aware of truth from lies.
Ref:
https://talageri.blogspot.com/2021/10/karna-and-yudhisthira-in-mahabharata.html
https://www.tamilbrahmins.com/threads/was-karna-good-or-bad.19842/
