'Kalki' seeks to be the next Telugu-led global sensation

Opening image (clockwise from right) A poster of 'Kalki 2898 AD'. Actors Deepika Padukone, Prabhas and Amitabh Bacchan at a promotional event of their science fiction dystopian film ‘Kalki 2898 AD’ in Mumbai on June 19, 2024. Image: Sujit Jaiswal / AFP)

Kalki 2898 AD’s co-producers, Swapna Dutt and Priyanka Dutt, were under monumental pressure before June 27, the release date of Vyjayanthi Movies’ ambitious dystopian science-fiction film.

Days were merging into sleepless nights as expectations from India’s most expensive film—heavy on visual effects and computer-generated imagery (CGI), and dubbed in Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada and Telugu, the film’s original language—were very high.

“It seemed like a daunting task given the timelines we had. We were worried if we will be able to deliver the film across screens in India, the US (and Canada), and its dubbed versions before the release date,” says Swapna over a video call while being driven to Vyjayanthi Movies’ office in Hyderabad.

One of the top production houses in the Telugu film industry, Vyjayanthi Movies was founded in 1974 by C Aswani Dutt, Swapna and Priyanka’s father, who is also the producer of Kalki.

But Kalki 2898 AD not only lived up to its hype, but also became the highest-grossing film of 2024.

The Amitabh Bachchan,Deepika Padukone and Prabhas-starrer reportedly grossed Rs1,041 crore ($124 million) worldwide collection on a production budget of Rs600 crore ($71.5 million). Forbes India could not immediately ascertain the number of screens in which the film was releaed. A query sent to Vyjayanthi Movies remained unanswered until the publishing of this story.

A sequel for Kalki is already in development with the main cast including Padukone, Prabhas, Amitabh Bachchan and Kamal Haasan set to reprise their characters.

The Dutt sisters do not want to pause just yet. Swapna and Priyanka want to give Kalki a “big” release in Japan during the early months of 2025. “Somehow I am very confident that we will do very well in Japan,” said Swapna.

Telugu films resonating with Japan

Kalki would be the fourth Telugu film to enter the Japanese market in less than a decade.

RRR (2022) and the two Baahubali films (2015-2017), all directed by SS Rajamouli, have set new box office collection benchmarks for Telugu films in Japan, and within the Indian film industry.

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A Japanese release brought in Rs121.7 crores ($14 million) to RRR’s gross lifetime collection of close to Rs1,400 crore ($167 million), according to Box Office Mojo.

While Hindi films have been releasing in Japan since the early 1950s, Forbes India could not immediately ascertain the first Telugu film to release in the land of the rising sun.

Merchandise and gaming vertical

Priyanka and Swapna have also rolled out Kalki merchandise, such as the toy replica of Bujji, an artificial intelligence-powered robotic electric vehicle driven by Bhairava, essayed by actor Prabhas, and one of the main protagonists in the film. While Kalki-themed t-shirts can be purchased through online marketplaces, nametags and stickers, among other consumer products, will be rolled out soon.

The idea of a creating a merchandising line started with Bujji. “It is such an interesting character and we figured that kids might really like it,” says Priyanka.

Kalki -themed merchandise includes Bhairava bounty hunter t-shirts and Bujji Brain Plush, a toy replica of Robot Bujji sold as a soft toy
Bujji is a critic, leg-puller and friend to Prabhas’ Bhairava. A well-known actor in Telugu films, Prabhas became a household name in India after playing the title character in the Baahubali films.
Even though the merchandise vertical is in its early days, Swapna and Priyanka have set an ambitious goal to growing the vertical’s domestic revenue contribution on-par with the Walt Disney Company’s consumer product vertical in the coming years.

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“There are many iconic films with legendary character our father has produced. So, we would like to bring those characters back in merchandising form at some point,” says Swapna.

A two-episode animated series B & B: Bujji and Bhairava, a prequel for Kalki, was released on Amazon Prime Video in May under Vyjayanthi Animations. A game based on the Telugu blockbuster is also in the works. The production house refrained from sharing more information about the upcoming game.

Apart from being second-generation producers at Vyjayanthi Films, Swapna and Priyanka have earlier produced Sita Raman (2022) under Swapna Cinema, and Kumari Srimathi (2023), a Telugu drama series streaming on Amazon Prime Video, under Early Monsoon Tales.

“We don’t follow any norms or a particular medium for creating films or shows. It all depends on the story,” said Swapna.

Success at high risk

Kalki’s success has not come easy. Apart from footing a bill that was just Rs15 crores ($17.8 million) shy of India’s Chandrayaan-3 lunar mission, Vyjayanthi Movies invested close to five years in making of the film.

This included the Covid-19 led lockdown years, between 2020 and 2023, when almost all films had to halt their shoot due to social distancing norms. The makers took this down time to build the post-apocalyptic setting seen in the film.

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“As you see in the movie, there are so many worlds, characters, design and costumes. We were involved in developing all of it. Even if there was Covid, there was so much work happening over video calls,” says Priyanka.

Producers Priyanka Dutt and Swapna Dutt, and director Nag Ashwin at the Project-K press junket unveiling the movie 'Kalki 2898 AD' at San Diego Comic-Con International in San Diego, California. Image: Chris Delmas / AFP
Multiple sets and props, including futuristic guns and ammunition, cars, motorcycles, and Bujji, were built from scratch. The film’s financial success also comes at a crucial time when Hindi and Tamil film industries are facing a downturn, with many big-budget films featuring top actors have barely managed to recover their production budget.

These include Fighter starring Hrithik Roshan, Bade Miyan Chote Miyaan starring Akshay Kumar and Tiger Shroff, and Maidaan starring Ajay Devgn, and Sarfira starring Akshay Kumar. In July, The Tamil Film Producers’ Council announced for all movie shooting to be halted by October, as quite a few films have become loss-making ventures while actors still charge inflated fees, among other reasons.

“Before the release of Kalki, we were dying. My theatres stayed empty between March and June,” said Vijay Dingari, who owns and runs 30-40 single screens across Telangana. Since the film’s release on June 27, Dingari claims two-three days of ticket, food and beverage sales helped in pulling off the deficit for June.

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Kalki’s Hindi dubbed version alone contributed Rs262 crore as of July 22, according to Box Office India, surpassing RRR’s (Hindi) earnings. The film also got a theatrical run of more than four weeks, with screens brimming with audience, which is rare for films in current times.

Filmmakers roving for commercially successful franchises

Vyjayanthi Movies is the latest production house to take a stab at creating a viable film franchise.
Indian film industry’s tryst with sequel and franchise-creation could be dated back to the 1950s with Satyajit Ray’s The Apu Trilogy. The 90s saw the trend of franchises based on an actor’s appeal and nostalgia-evoking titles. Hindi film actor Govida starred in six films with similar titles, including Hero No 1, Aunty No 1, Coolie No 1, and Jodi No 1, between 1995 and 2001.

“The makers have unknowingly created these film series because an earlier title would have been commercially successful,” says a top Hindi movie producer, who wished to remain anonymous.

None of these films had connected storylines, which was a usual norm for film franchises. But the current cinema going audience has become discerning towards a film’s story and presentation instead of being enamoured by top actors.

A recent example is Tamil release Indian 2 in July. Featuring Kamal Haasan, who also played the main protagonist in its first instalment Indian (1996), failed to attract much fanfare from audience.
On the Hindi film front, War (2019) and Pathaan (2023) have been mega financial successes in YRF (Yash Raj Films) spy universe. Dinesh Vijan-led Maddock Entertainment’s supernatural universe has seen box office successes through Stree, Stree 2, Bhediya and Munjya.

With Kalki 2898 AD, Vyjayanthi Movies seem to not only depend on movies, but also sequels, an animated show, merchandise sales and releasing films in multiple languages.

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Kalki also had cameos from multiple actors, including Dulquer Salmaan, Anna Ben, and Disha Patani. These characters were not fully developed and had unfinished plotlines, which could lead to spin-off films, shows or even video games in the coming years. Building a consumer product division would only help Vyjayanthi Movies in developing a new revenue stream for the production house.

“We will keep building this cinematic universe and other spin-offs as long as we have the energy,” says Priyanka.

Many commercially successful movie franchises, including the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Disney’s popular animated films such as Frozen, Toy Story and Cars, and the Harry Potter franchise, among others, have a similar mix of movies, shows, spin-offs and merchandises.

If Vyjayanthi Movies’ is able to make their films and other division—animation, games and consumer products—commercially viable, then it could become the first Indian production house to create a formidable and sustainable franchise from India for the world.