Kalki 2898 AD is running in the theaters with mixed responses but overwhelming numbers. Starring Prabhas, Deepika Padukone, Kamal Haasan, Amitabh Bachchan, and others, the film has earned almost 280 crore worldwide and 149 crore in India.
Kalki takes its inspiration from Mahabharat and blends it with Vishnu Puran, where Ashwatthama, the lone warrior from the Battle of Kurukshetra, has been cursed by Lord Krishna as he kills Arjun’s son on the battlefield. Now, Ashwatthama awaits the tenth avatar of Lord Vishnu.
Kalki x Mahabharat
Mahabharat is an epic that always finds a place in the glorious stories of Indian Cinema. In fact, films like Rajneeti and Hum Paanch have used the caricature of Mahabharat to bring a modern-day tale. However, there have been films that have attempted to put Mahabharat on screen.
In 1965, AA Nadiadwala produced Mahabharat, which was directed by Babubhai Mistry and starred Pradeep Kumar, Dara Singh, and Padmini in the lead roles. While Pradeep Kumar played Arjuna, Dara Singh played Bhima, and Padmini played Draupadi. Actor Jeevan played Shakuni in the film.
Mahabharat Budget & Collections
This film was mounted on a huge budget since it required a vast set. Many reports suggest that in 1965, the film was made on a reported budget of a whopping 0.25 crore! Meanwhile, it was a disaster at the box office, collecting only 0.01 crore.
Meanwhile, Mahabharat, in 1965, earned only 4% of its budget, incurring huge losses. Other reports also suggest the budget of the film to be 1 crore with 0.04 crore to 0.06 crore as the lifetime collection. However, the exact number of the film were so low that they cannot be verified. Later, Mahabharat was turned into cassettes and VCDs of low quality, according to reports.
Coming to Kalki 2898 AD, the film has been mounted on a huge budget of 600 – 700 crore and needs at least 500+ crore to break even at the box office.
Currently, Prabhas’s film has already earned 22% of its reported budget, and looking at the pace of the film at the box office, it is expected that the magnum opus will definitely not head the Mahabharata way. In fact, this is the Mahabharat we need, and hopefully, Kalki‘s success would give the filmmakers much-needed strength to attempt such a huge mytho-Universe.
Note: Box office numbers are based on estimates and various sources. Numbers have not been independently verified by Koimoi.
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