ShodhPatra: International Journal of Science and Humanities

From Kurukshetra to Kashi: Myth, Dystopia, and Civilizational Memory in Kalki 2898 AD

Kalki 2898 AD (2024), directed by Nag Aswin, reimagines the Mahabharata within a dystopian futuristic landscape shaped by ecological collapse, technological authoritarianism, reproductive control, and civilizational decay. Beginning from the battlefield of Kurukshetra and culminating in the wasteland of futuristic Kashi, the film collapses distinctions between mythological past and apocalyptic future, suggesting that humanity remains trapped within recurring cycles of violence and ethical failure. This paper examines how the film transforms epic memory into a framework for interpreting contemporary anxieties concerning surveillance, biopolitics, environmental destruction, and the commodification of life itself. Drawing upon theories of cultural memory, cyclical temporality, biopolitics, and dystopian studies, the paper argues that Kalki 2898 AD constructs a form of mythic futurism in which ancient archetypes survive within technologically intensified modernity. Through figures such as Ashwatthama, Bhairava, Sumathi, and Supreme Yaskin, the film reworks mythological motifs into dystopian forms while simultaneously engaging with global science-fiction traditions. The paper further explores the symbolic opposition between the extractive dystopia of the Complex and the regenerative possibility represented by Shambala, demonstrating how the film positions mythology not as nostalgic return, but as a living cultural structure capable of interpreting historical and futuristic crises.