In a candid revelation that has left fans of sci-fi and Indian cinema buzzing, Kalki 2898 AD (2024) director Nag Ashwin recently shared that he almost created a film similar to Christopher Nolan’s Oscar-winning Inception (2010)— two years before it hit the big screen. Speaking at a Hyderabad college during an interaction with students, the filmmaker opened up about the fluid nature of creativity and how overlapping ideas can strike artists across the globe. “I had written something like Inception in 2008. While the Nolan film was about dreams, mine was about memories. In fact, seeing the trailer of Inception made me go have a week of depression,” he said.
That “week of depression,” as Ashwin jokingly called it, was not just about missed opportunity but a reflection of how art often walks parallel paths. The takeaway for him? Stop obsessing over being original. “Honestly, originality is something out of your control,” he said. “It’s okay to stop chasing it. Instead, concentrate more on bringing authenticity to your work,” he continued.
Nolan’s Inception follows Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio), a thief with the rare ability to enter people’s dreams and steal their secrets from deep within their subconscious. His unique talent makes him a valuable asset in the world of corporate espionage, but it also costs him everything he holds dear. Cobb is offered a final shot at redemption: to plant an idea in someone’s mind instead of stealing one. If he succeeds, it will be the perfect crime, except a dangerous enemy is already anticipating his every move.
As for Ashwin, his own creative path led him to Kalki 2898 AD, a mythologival-futuristic epic based on the Mahabharata. The story begins with Lord Krishna cursing Ashwatthama to eternal suffering, only for destiny to set him on a path of redemption centuries later — by protecting the woman carrying Kalki, the final avatar of Vishnu.
The film stars Amitabh Bachchan as Ashwatthama and Deepika Padukone as the chosen mother of Kalki, while Prabhas takes on the role of Bhairava, a lone warrior standing tall in a decaying world. While the movie enjoyed immense box office success, it was considerably trolled for its unrealistic VFX, with many watchers finding the CGI work to be jarring and uneven.
Ashwin, who’s now working on the much-anticipated sequel, hinted at the intense behind-the-scenes effort that went into building this cinematic universe. “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.” He also touched on the growing presence of AI in filmmaking. “When we worked on Kalki, there were already some AI tools available. But now, it’s a completely different ballgame. People are already creating trailers with AI. But the point is — it still needs a mind to give it direction.”
From nearly making Inception to creating a new format for Indian sci-fi Ashwin’s journey is a reminder that missed opportunities can eventually become fuel for something far greater.
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