Kalki 2898 AD: Iron Man or Lord Voldemort? Nag Ashwin reveals his inspiration

After the fabulous success of Kalki 2898 AD, the director Nag Ashwin is the most in-demand celebrity among the media and podcast show hosts. And the director also seems to be eager to speak out about everything that made this fantastic idea of his into a huge blockbuster. Since Kalki 2898 AD is a science fiction thriller, the makers have used VFX and CGI in a big way to add more drama, realism, and magnificence to the overall presentation.

The characters like Yaskin played by Kamal Haasan or the overall technology to make the fights between Bhairava and Ashwatthama look real but impactful seem to be inspired by Hollywood movies. When asked if that is so, Nag Ashwin did accept that his movie has taken some inspiration from famous Western films. So was Iron Man an inspiration behind Bhairava’s character and Bujji or Lord Voldermort influenced the overall look of Yaskin?

Nag Ashwin replied that neither Harry Potter nor Iron Man movies inspired him. But rather he is a big fan of Star Wars and Marvel films. Talking to a leading media portal the National Award-winning director said, “We grew up watching Marvel films. I would say for Prabhas' character, Guardians of the Galaxy was more of an influence than Iron Man. Star Wars is a huge influence. I love Star Wars, so that is subconsciously a part of my aesthetic.”

"Our references were these old Tibetan monks, who are supposed to be 120–130 years old. Sir (Kamal Haasan) always mentioned the portrait of Dorian Gray (from Oscar Wilde's 1890 philosophical novel The Picture of Dorian Gray). That was Sir's inspiration. We didn't have many film references for that ancient look” he added.

But he did accept that Kalki 2898 AD does have a Harry Potter connection. Clarifying the same, Nag Ashwin said that the character of Sirius from his movie has been inspired by Sirius Black from Harry Potter.