Kamal Haasan & Director Nag Ashwin on Making One of the Biggest Indian Films Ever Made | SDCC 2023 (2024)

One of the highlights of the first day at San Diego Comic-Con was the Hall H panel for the upcoming Indian sci-fi epic Kalki 2989 AD. Previously known as Project K, the film boasts a roster of huge film stars in India including Amitabh Bachchan and Prabhas, and brings classical mythology to a science fiction setting.

In this interview with Collider's Steve Weintraub at San Diego Comic-Con, Kalki 2989 AD director and writer Nag Ashwin and one of the stars of the film Kamal Haasan talked about the creation of the epic sci-fi universe. The pair also talked about how the process of shooting varies across film industries in India, and how they differ from the American process. They also teased bringing mythology to life in Kalki 2989 AD.

STEVE WEINTRAUB: I really want to say sincere thank you for coming in today. And also congratulations on being at Comic-Con in Hall H, and exposing more of the world to what you guys are doing. So I just have to ask, in India, is Comic-Con something that people know about and talk about, or is it more an American thing?

KAMAL HAASAN: Well, I would say like my daughter, the next generation, does know about Comic-Con, but generally speaking, after this, they will know because everybody is talking about it back home.

NAG ASHWIN: I think like the smaller towns and everything, this movie would reach there. So everyone's asking, what is this Comic-Con? Where are these guys going?

HAASAN: In smaller towns, they're not aware, but it's good exposure for this kind of a collaboration.

I have to ask you, because one of the things about Comic-Con is that everyone here likes to geek out over things, whether it be posters or collectibles or movies or TV, whatever it is very passionate fans. Is there anything that you're really passionate about in terms of collecting? Or if you get to walk the convention floor, would you be looking for a certain poster or comic book?

HAASAN: Yeah, collectibles are yet to happen in India in a big way, but I am a cinema buff, so for me all the posters are a very big thing. I have a little library of things, which I [do] have not enough balls to put up. So I keep painting the posters. I'm very fond of posters, so I collect them.

If you manage to walk the floor, you will see a lot of them. And you might actually want to take something home.

ASHWIN: Yeah. It looks beautiful on the floor. The number of hoodies and merchandise and collectibles.

HAASAN: I always kept insisting to my producers that we should do merchandising because people do like to take things back. Even in weddings, when they go, they take back memorabilia.

ASHWIN: We have this [holds up medallion] This is like a thing they're giving our audience.

We should show it to the camera.

ASHWIN: It's like a medallion sort of thing. So this for you. Actually, you can keep it.

Thank you!

ASHWIN: So it's just something you can just keep on your desk, and you’ll remember.

Oh, I'm 100% keeping this. That's great. Thank you. It's like a collectible coin.

ASHWIN: Pretty much. Yeah.

So the reason I get to talk to you guys is you're obviously promoting your movie here at Comic-Con. And I'm just curious, what can you actually tell fans about it? What do you want people to know?

ASHWIN: Well, just what is there in the teaser actually. It's just a small glimpse. It's not even the story story, because we still have about six months before the film comes out, but it's a very new world for us in India because we've not done something in the sci-fi space. So like all the images and all the vehicles and the character looks just the wideness of that world, they'll be very curious to see how it is, but not the story. So whatever it was in the teaser, we'll be sharing.

I did a lot of research before you guys came in, and one of the things that I found fascinating, and tell me if I'm wrong, is that what you'll do when you're filming is you'll shoot for like eight, nine days and then take a break to get things together and then shoot more. Or am I wrong about this?

HAASAN: It depends if it's a complicated technical issue, we might have to take the break for logistical reasons. I come from an industry called Malayalam Film Industry. It's a small industry, so it is one long distance from beginning to end. We have to finish shooting in three weeks.

ASHWIN: Yeah, like 22 days to finish to make a full feature.

HAASAN: 22 days, or 23 days max and we'll have to finish the film. So everybody is geared for that. So it sometimes exceeds 12 hours of work.

ASHWIN: But yeah, nowadays I think it is taking longer.

HAASAN: Now it's taking longer, but I come from that school. So we have a larger lungs, perhaps, so we run for longer.

I read that you guys were building vehicles, and you're building things, you're creating essentially a new world. So what can you sort of say about that? Because I find that fascinating, and I'm very interested in new worlds and new ideas.

ASHWIN: Yeah. I mean, it's very exciting for me to be able because I love sci-fi, and I love even all of the Star Wars. I grew up with Star Wars a lot. So and I love Indian mythology. We grew up with Mahabharata and a lot of stories from mythology and these two loves. I didn't know, I always felt it'd be great if we could put them together somehow.

And and somehow this story happened. And because there was something in the story, the actors happened. And now we are here talking to you. Yeah, we're building this whole new world, which is very original because it's Indian in a sci-fi space. So it would be it's the first experiment, I hope. Yeah, we did. We did justice.

Listen, I'm all in on this. I'm really looking forward to seeing it. One of the things that I'm so curious about is were there any films besides Star Wars? Like, did you look at a Blade Runner, for example, in the Spinner in Blade Runner and say, I like that, but I want to do this?

ASHWIN: Yeah, I mean, Blade Runner, I think I discovered more recently. But even Total Recall was a favorite sci-fi for me.

HAASAN: It started with Do Even Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Yeah, the book. So I like that kind of science fiction, where you're able to correlate with your own thoughts of what the future would be. So I like that, and what he's attempting to do, the reason why I'm happily part of this project is that we have a great mythological thread running through for thousands of years.

So if you hit the correct symbols, people will understand the storyline and which direction it's going. They have iconic characters in Mahabharata, and you just have to give a hint of it, and they’ll almost know what would be the next scene? So you can cut to the chase quickly.

Can I ask you what can you tease about the character you're playing?

HAASAN: That he has to say, I don't know how much to reveal. I know too much.

But I think you probably do. What can you tease?

ASHWIN: I think everyone's waiting to see [Hasaan] this role, and what it's going to be like in this film and why he agreed to do it and why we wanted so to do it. So I think I'd like to leave the surprise.

Sure. My job and people know that about me is I'm always digging as far as I can without getting to spoilers. I'm always looking for what can you tease? You know what I mean. Well, let me ask you this. I read and again, please correct me if I'm wrong, but as you're filming, you're filming in two different languages?

ASHWIN: I mean, not all the scenes, actually, but we started off doing it in a way that we know that some scenes are definitely going to be more impactful if we also shoot it in Hindi. So we are shooting in two languages, but for the most part, it's a Telugu film.

HAASAN: And it's a country with five strong industries, with a large demography of audiences, so it would be wiser to reach out to all of them. It's like you have a single language called English, which could cross continents, but within a subcontinent called India, we have 22 languages, so it's quite a complicated communication process.

Believe me, I know I've heard all about it. I'm curious, what is it like when I ask you this question? I know you're rather well-known in India. What is it like for you to be here in America and at Comic-Con? Can you be a little anonymous or is it still you're screwed?

HAASAN: No, it depends on people. There are many Indians. They'll recognize me, but all-Americans, I'm happy to be one among the crowd and be a cinema buff and collector like everybody else.

What is it like in India right now with you guys making this movie? Because it is one of the biggest budgeted India-produced movies that's ever been done. So do you find that there is an awful lot of interest in the film while you're filming?

ASHWIN: Yeah, for sure, because I mean, I think definitely one of the biggest reasons is the star cast. Because they don't know what the film is about. They just know that it's an attempt at sci-fi, and it has four of the biggest stars who have agreed on the script. So they're very curious. Definitely. And we've released a couple of posters that just tease the tone of the film, but it's just like hands. So it's not much, but still people are very excited, just looking at that.

Well, what's interesting is and I don't know if you know this, but Studio Ghibli just released their movie, Miyazaki released his new movie in Japan. And on opening day, they had not released a trailer, any images, anything, just it's the new Miyazaki movie. And people went in not knowing anything. And I found that amazing because so many trailers give away so much.

So are you thinking about already, like, how much do we want to hold back when the marketing does begin?

ASHWIN: I think we also are in a place where people want to know what they're getting in to like, especially in the bigger, like commercial space. Like when you make big-budgeted films, like you want a bigger audience to know exactly what they're coming for. So that's why the trailers sort of tell you a lot. Yeah. So, I mean, I think that works for movies like this.

HAASAN: There are quite a few big names in the film, but all big names have the humility to understand it's not the brand, but the content that's going to work. So we are all looking forward to that. And about my participation, nobody believed that I'm a part of this project. As a matter of fact, yesterday, the funny thing is the protagonist of this film, Mr. Prabhas, just held my hand and said, “Thank you. I wouldn't believe it till today that you're part of it because I'm still wondering how they got you in.”

You wrote the script and when you were writing, were you thinking about certain actors as you wrote? Because in America, generally, all the writers I speak to say you never try to think of someone in a role because you'll just get disappointed when they say no.

ASHWIN: Right. But also, I had like an image of the characters and only after I finished a few drafts did I start imagining people in the role.

HAASAN: That's about the best way to go. But a character looms larger than an actor and then the actor fits it, and it doesn't matter if one says no, they'll always be another. I'm a writer also, so I take pride in creating rather than be part of just a big canvas.

In America, one of the things when they make big-budget movies is they're always thinking about how can we do a spin-off or what's the sequel? They're thinking long term because of the investment. And I'm curious with this, were you thinking about this as just a single story or do you think this is something that could, you know, branch into sequels or other media?

ASHWIN: Well, I definitely started wanting to create the world. So like whether it's maybe more than sequels, it's also just the characters in the film, the locations, or the vehicles that we create. I always thought like we could make like an animated short of that. We could have like cars or trucks from our designs, we could have figures. And I thought that kind of world, this movie allows. So yeah. But spin-offs and all that just don't need this movie right now that I'm thinking about.

This is my last thing for you because you need to go promote your movie at Comic-Con. What do you think would surprise people to learn about making movies in India that maybe they wouldn't know in America?

HAASAN: From what I can say, we started off as a very small industry in the sense we were making the largest number of films in the world, yet we were not geared. We didn't have the grounded framework to do all that, but we managed. So I think the greatest quality that I find after having worked a bit with the Hollywood technicians, that Indians are great chaos managers.

They thrive in chaos and bring a film together, which is fantastic. And some of my American technicians are astounded by it, and too scared to imitate it because so much money is at stake here. But there are certain things that even Hollywood does where you can improvise on the set, certain things which have been planned for months together, and you make that the last-minute tweak.

Even Mr. Spielberg had done that in Temple of Doom, where there was a big fight sequence and the protagonist, the hero of the film, was unwell, and he was so tired, he said, “Why do I have to fight?” He pulled out a gun and shot, and Mr. Spielberg, it seems, co*cked his head and said, Do it, and we'll wrap it today instead of four days of shooting.

That’s an on-the-spot decision that what India's very, very capable of doing and most of the best sequence films ever happen on the set sometimes, whether it's a collaboration of technicians directors, but it's teetering on the edge things could go wrong so it is rope walking that that's why probably when you have bigger investments, they'll have to plan harder.

Kalki 2898 AD is due to release sometime in 2024. Watch the trailer below: