Amitabh Bachchan claims to be Ashwatthama, the immortal son of Drona from the Mahabharata, in a new teaser of Prabhas-starrer dystopian fantasy adventure film Kalki 2898 AD.
Dropped by the makers and shared by the Bollywood veteran on Sunday, the teaser introduces Amitabh’s character, who is seen praying in front of a Shiva linga at a temple inside a cave. Clad in mud-stained clothes and a mask covering his face, the mysterious worshipper reveals his identity to a child, saying, “Since ancient times, I have awaited the arrival of the Avatar. I am Guru Drona’s son. Ashwatthama.”
“The time has come…My final battle begins now,” says Ashwatthama in the teaser as he wields a stick with a furious look.
Amitabh’s daughter Shweta Bachchan took to the comments section and wrote, “Can’t wait,” while his son Abhishek simply wrote “The Boss” alongside the teaser shared on his Instagram story.
On Sunday, Amitabh also shared a character poster of Ashwatthama with a note describing his experience of working in Kalki 2898 AD. “The wait comes to an end,” reads the tagline.
“It’s been an experience for me like no other .. The mind to think of such a product, the execution, the exposure to modern technology and above all the company of colleagues with stratospheric super star presence,” the Bollywood veteran wrote alongside the poster.
Vyjayanthi Movies shared another character poster showing Ashwatthama sitting at the bottom of a temple pillar in tattered clothes covering him from head to toe. “The time has come to know,” reads the caption.
“A modern-day avatar of Vishnu, a Hindu god, who is believed to have descended to earth to protect the world from evil forces,” reads the official synopsis of Kalki 2898 AD on IMDb.
Apart from Prabhas and Amitabh, the movie also stars Prabhas, Deepika Padukone, Disha Patani and Kamal Haasan in key roles. Santhosh Narayanan serves as the music composer of the film, while the cinematography is done by Djordje Stojiljkovic.
Filming for the film was wrapped up in March. Directed by Nag Ashwin, Kalki 2898 AD is slated to arrive in theatres on May 9.
