First Indian Movie At Comic-Con ‘Project K’ Electrifies Hall H With Musical & Dance Spectacle; Teaser Drop

Anthony D'Alessandro and Natalie Sitek
·3 min read
4
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

Project K, the first Indian film to make its grand debut in Hall H at Comic-Con, made a lot of noise — a lot — today with a grand musical number that rivaled Prime Video’s The Lord of the Rings orchestra and chorale last year.

A string of drummers lined the Hall H dais as a queue of women holding candles entered and danced ceremoniously onstage. Stars Prabhas and Kamal Hassan took the stage, and the crowd up front here went nuts. This was followed by a string of black-costumed sci-fi warriors (in fact, their getup looks like that of Timothée Chalamet and Josh Brolin’s in Dune). Watch the footage below.

More from Deadline

The whole stunt drew load roars, chanting and cheers that weren’t heard in the previous panel (no disrespect to Paramount, which had Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem just prior, the only Hollywood studio to have the cajones to come to SDCC sans stars). Seriously, the whole spectacle gives Dwayne Johnson as Black Adam a run for his money. In a dull year sans Marvel Studios and DC, it was the right pizzazz this place needed.

RELATED: Paramount Sole Hollywood Studio Stoking Hall H With ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem’, Shows Off 20 Minutes Of New Pic — Comic-Con

The Nag Ashwin directed and written sci-fi pic is inspired by Hindu mythology whereby an evil rises to destroy all Gods. The Indian star Prabhas is pictured in the one sheet like Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man. He plays an avatar of the Hindu God Vishnu, who descended from Earth to fight Evil. Amitabh Bachchan (who starred in 2013’s The Great Gatsby) beamed in. The movie also stars Deepika Padukone (xXx: Return of Xander Cage), who skipped Comic-Con out of respect for SAG-AFTRA actors striking. Actor Kamal Hassan was here as well as Indian superstar Prabhas in the flesh. The director’s elevator pitch for the movie: “The End Begins”

The trailer, which was shown twice, looks like Dune –and that’s high praise– with Prabhas playing a Paul Atreides-type. Watch it above.

The film has been shooting for two years, but prepping for four under the title Project K. It just received a title today, Kalki 2898 A.D. The pic hits theaters in 2024.  Vyjayanthi Movies is behind the $75M production.

Ashwin made his directorial debut in 2015 with the coming-of-age philosophical drama film, Yevade Subramanyam. In 2018, he directed the biographical film, Mahanati.

Prabhas starred in S.S. Rajamouli’s epic action drama, Baahubali: The Beginning, which is the thirteenth-highest-grossing Indian film to date. He later reprised his role in its sequel, Baahubali 2: The Conclusion, which became the first Indian film ever to gross north of $155M.

Best of Deadline

Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Click here to read the full article.