Hyderabad: Mahabharat fame actor Nitish Bharadwaj, who essayed the role of Lord Krishna in BR Chopra's 1988 television series, talked about Nag Ashwin's latest offering Kalki 2898 AD. In an interview with a news portal, Nitish lauded the director for making "clever use of Mahabharat characters and the futuristic birth of Kalki." He further stated that Hindi cinema producers "must learn from the South."
Nitish stated, "Nag Ashwin has made clever use of Mahabharat characters and the futuristic birth of Mahavishnu's last avatar Kalki. Hindi film producers must learn from the South, as they are so deeply rooted in our scriptures and epics that even their inspired versions appear correct. Kalki appears to have drawn visual inspiration from Mad Max films. However, it seemed different because the set and production design became less essential to me than the central plot. Ashwin combined the two superbly."
He also gave his predictions for the plot of the Kalki 2898 AD sequel. He stated: "Prabhas, aka Karna, will die in the ambition of being accepted by the villain despite Ashwatthama (Amitabh Bachchan) and Krishna showing him the path to redemption." Bharadwaj also showed keen interest in playing Krishna's role in the film, jokingly remarking that Nag will not have to look for actors as he was available for the part.