1 Year of Kalki 2898 AD: “If You Remove Her Character, There Is No Story,” Nag Ashwin on Deepika Padukone’s Role

Deepika Padukone is undeniably India’s biggest actress and the undisputed box office queen of Bollywood. Her magnetic screen presence and ability to completely own every frame make her irreplaceable. A year ago, she delivered one of the finest performances of her career in Kalki 2898 AD, starring alongside Prabhas and Amitabh Bachchan. Directed by Nag Ashwin, the film became one of the highest-grossing Indian films ever made. Deepika’s portrayal was celebrated for its emotional depth and quiet strength. One of the most talked-about moments was her breathtaking fire-walking scene in the climax. 

In an interview director Nag Ashwin shared that Deepika shot the intense sequence with such grace, saying, “The visual of that scene and the way Deepika holds herself – the poise. I told her that if everything goes well, this is a movie poster that will live longer than you and me, probably." The director revealed that during the writing process, they had extensive discussions about her character, and without her, there would be no story, saying,  "She is the most important part of the story. We had a lot of discussions on it when we were writing as well. I think the simplest answer that we arrived at was whose character do you remove and the story does not exist? And that became Deepika's character. Because if you remove her character, there is no story. There is no Kalki.”

Talking about Deepika’s iconic fire scene, director Nag Ashwin said, “That is one of my favourite scenes; I think maybe the most favourite scene. But the way we shot was so hurried. We were shooting three setups that day and Deepika Padukone had to leave by a certain flight. It usually happens that some of the most important or magical things in the film happen by chance or in a hurry. And this is what that was. And, but just watching it in that hurry, in that rush and everything, when you just reach the monitor and you see Deepika walking through that particular tunnel in that fire, I just knew this was going to be special.”