Kalki 2898 AD director Nag Ashwin reveals he faced depression after watching Inception trailer, says, "It affected me so deeply"

Kalki 2898 AD director Nag Ashwin reveals he faced depression after watching Inception trailer, says, "It affected me so deeply"

Filmmaker Nag Ashwin, who recently wowed audiences with his sci-fi epic Kalki 2898 AD, starring Amitabh Bachchan, Prabhas, Deepika Padukone, and Kamal Haasan, shared a personal story that left cinema students stunned during a recent interaction. Reflecting on a difficult phase early in his creative journey, Ashwin revealed he once battled a bout of depression after watching the trailer of Christopher Nolan’s Inception.

“I had an idea similar to Inception,” Ashwin said. “While Nolan’s film is about dreams, mine was about thoughts. I came up with it back in 2008. But once I saw the trailer for Inception, I dropped the idea. It affected me so deeply that I went into depression for a week.”

Despite that moment of setback, Ashwin pushed forward and went on to helm Kalki 2898 AD, one of India’s most ambitious and visually striking films. Currently, he is working on its much-anticipated sequel.

At the event, Ashwin spoke about the sheer scale of effort that went into crafting the world of Kalki. “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.”

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Kalki 2898 AD merges mythology and science fiction with cutting-edge VFX and stunning visuals. From massive battles to futuristic cities, every detail was meticulously designed to create a truly immersive experience.

Discussing the rise of AI in cinema, Ashwin noted, “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.”