Nag Ashwin on Kalki, Inception, Khaleja and More!

Despite only directing three films, Nag Ashwin has established himself as one of the top directors in Telugu cinema today. After the blockbuster success of Kalki 2898 AD, fans are eagerly waiting for Nag Ashwin's sequel. In a recent interaction with college students, the filmmaker spoke at length about the making of the film, his stint as an assistant director, and some of his favourite movies.

Like so many other directors in Telugu cinema, Nag Ashwin is also a writer-director. He writes his screenplays and translates them onto the big screen. While directing can be considered one of the toughest jobs owing to the number of people that are to be dealt with, writing is personal suffering for an individual.

Speaking about the same topic, Nag Ashwin mentioned numerous instances where he had an idea, began to write about it, and then a trailer appeared with a concept similar to his own. When asked about one example, Nag Ashwin didn't hesitate and said, "Inception."

The blockbuster Hollywood film directed by Christopher Nolan is one of the biggest hits of the 21st century, and Ashwin said that while the movie was about dreams, his initial idea was around memories. This idea came to him in 2008. Those who follow Telugu cinema on a regular basis know that Nag Ashwin is a huge fan of science fiction, and Kalki is a prime example of the same.

The director then delves into details about some of his favourite Telugu films. Nag Ashwin didn't waste much time naming Khaleja as his favourite Tollywood movie of all time, and he wished he would have been the editor of the film. Also, he added Dear Comrade as one of his favourite movies too. It's important to note that both the films had tanked at the box office when they were released and eventually found love from audiences.

While the director didn't give much detail about Kalki's sequel, he did talk about the making of the first part and how the usage of AI has become rampant of late. But Nag Ashwin believes that even with advancements in AI, it needs a human brain to show direction to AI.