Kalki 2898-AD begins on the ancient Kurukshetra battlefield and then jumps to the year 2898, when Earth has become a dry and broken wasteland. In the last city, Kashi, a rich floating complex rules over a poor ground city under the control of Supreme Yaskin. Bhairava is a selfish, joking bounty hunter who wants money and a place in the Complex. He is drawn into a war when Ashwatthama protects Sum-80, a pregnant woman whose unborn child may be the next form of Vishnu.
The film puts pregnancy and women’s bodies at the center of its struggle for survival. The Complex treats women as lab resources and uses pregnancy experiments to serve Yaskin’s power. The story also shows a sharp gap between people who fight for food and rulers who live in excess. Those ideas support a story about tyranny, survival, redemption, and the return of a Hindu savior.
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Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for Kalki 2898-AD.
Woke representation / casting
Not present. The main cast is Indian, and the story is set in a future version of Kashi built from Indian mythology. The film does not present its casting as a diversity or identity campaign.
0%
Woke political dialogue
Not present. The spoken lines focus on survival, war, gods, fate, and the lab project. The film has no clear modern identity, gender, or DEI speech.
0%
Identity-driven story themes
The story centers on Sum-80’s pregnancy and the search for her unborn child. The Complex treats women as lab resources and forces them into pregnancy experiments. Yaskin uses this abuse to seek power and build a new world. The film presents the abuse as fantasy tyranny rather than a current gender campaign.
15%
Western institutional / cultural critique
The film shows a floating elite city above a poor ground city. The Complex controls water, food, and safety. Nag Ashwin said this gap was drawn from present life. The story treats the system as a fantasy tyrant’s rule, not an attack on Western culture or modern conservative groups.
14%
Woke character or canon changes
Not relevant. The film reworks Mahabharata and Kalki figures for a science-fiction story. The changes are myth and plot choices, not race, gender, or sexuality swaps.
0%
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
A handful of small X accounts called the film woke or multicultural woke drivel. Those claims had no clear campaign, boycott, review bomb, or major news pickup. Right-leaning praise for the film as not woke is approval, not backlash.
8%
Creator track record context
Nag Ashwin has a moderate 38/100 record linked partly to Mahanati and its focus on a woman’s career. Swapna and Priyanka Dutt have moderate 55/100 records tied to women-led production and female-centered films. The other listed creators show little activist history. The group shows some interest in women-centered work but no strong DEI campaign record.
32%
Production
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