The trailer of famous director Nag Ashwin’s dystopian sci-fi action film ‘Kalki 2898 AD’ was released on Monday. After the release of the trailer, the audience noticed many similarities between Kalki’s post-apocalyptic world and Hollywood films like ‘Dune’ and ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’. Despite the delay in the film, Prabhas, Amitabh Bachchan, Deepika Padukone, Kamal Haasan, and Disha Patani’s ‘Kalki’ is set to release in theaters on June 27.
Kalki
Meanwhile, a South Korean designer Sung Choi has accused the makers of the film of cheating. He has worked with Marvel Studios, Disney, and Warner Bros and has accused the makers of ‘Kalki 2898 AD’ of copying his artwork. Sung Choi shared a collage of his art and the film’s trailer on social media, writing, ‘Misusing artwork is a bad practice. This raises questions in my mind. @Kalki2898AD @VyjayanthiFilms #kalki2898ad.’ The artwork seen in the post was published on his website, Artstation, ten years ago.
Kalki
Following Sung Choi’s criticism, netizens supported him and condemned the production house. A user commented on Instagram, ‘I hope you take legal action if possible. This is horrible.’ One said, ‘The entire trailer shows glimpses of Epoch, Mad Max, Dune and other films. Many designs from the trailer are also lifted from the Halo series and Death Stranding. I don’t know how some concept designers who worked on the film can stay silent.’ One said, ‘This is shameful and disappointing. They just copied 10-year-old artwork and pasted it on the first frame of the trailer. Even the weapons and other stuff seem directly ‘inspired’ by several games and films.’
Kalki
This is not the first time a Prabhas film has been accused of plagiarism. In 2023, an animation studio, Vanarsena, claimed that the poster of Prabhas and Saif-Ali Khan’s ‘Adipurush’ copied their work. The studio shared a collage of the ‘Adipurush’ poster and the original Lord Shiva artwork on Instagram and asked for credit. Vivek Ram, an artist from Vanarsena Studio, also openly criticized the copying on LinkedIn.
Kalki 2898 AD stars Kamal Haasan, Prabhas, Deepika Padukone, and Disha Patani among others. The mythology-inspired film is directed by Nag Ashwin. Ashwini Dutt’s ‘Kalki 2898 AD’ will be released on June 27 in Tamil, Telugu, and Hindi.