Nag Ashwin is celebrated as the director behind the blockbuster epic sci-fi, ‘Kalki 2898 AD.’ The film starred Prabhas, Deepika Padukone, Amitabh Bachchan, Kamal Haasan, and Disha Patani. During a recent conversation, the filmmaker revealed that he once had an idea similar to Christopher Nolan’s ‘Inception.’ While Nolan’s magnum opus hinged on dreams, Ashwin’s idea rested on memories. Speaking of it, he revealed that following the release of ‘Inception,’ Ashwin went into depression. However, he noted that in filmmaking, ‘authenticity’ trumps ‘originality.’

Director Nag Ashwin recently interacted with cinema students, and Gulte posted a video of their interaction on YouTube. In the clip, the filmmaker talked about the overlap of ideas. “It happens with everyone. We write something, and after a couple of months, we see one more film coming up with a similar concept.” When probed about which film resembled the same idea that he had, Nag Ashwin replied, “I had not the same idea. But something very similar to Inception. In 2008 or 2007. I was writing about memories, and that (Inception) was about dreams. But once I saw the trailer for Inception, I dropped the idea. It affected me so deeply that I went into depression for a week.”

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Reflecting on it, he said, “But then, what I realized is, originality is something you can’t control. And there’s no point chasing it. It’s more important to be authentic than original, I think. Like, you can make a beautiful original film that nobody has seen. But if you are not authentic, nobody will connect to it. But you can make the same love story that one has seen 10,000 times, and if you’re authentic about it, you will still feel for the story and the characters. So, I think be authentic more than original.”

During the conversation, he also discussed the world of ‘Kalki 2898 AD.’ “If you want to expand Kalki into a zig-zag puzzle mode and solve it, every scene has months and years of effort and planning behind it. The writing is the core, and the film did so well because of it.”

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‘Kalki 2898 AD ‘is a sci-fi dystopian epic hinged on the Mahabharata. The film depicts the prophesied 10th avatar of Lord Vishnu, Kalki. The first film focused on the events around the birth of Kalki. Now, fans patiently await the sequel title, which will take the narrative ahead. With key cast members reprising their roles, the ‘Kalki 2898 AD’ sequel promises to deliver an even more captivating and immersive experience.