After their film 'Kalki 2898 AD' reportedly grossed around Rs1,041 crore at the domestic and international (the US and Canada) box office, co-producers and sisters Swapna and Priyanka Dutt show no signs of taking a pause
Opening image (clockwise from right) A poster of 'Kalki 2898 AD'. Actors Deepika Padukone, Prabhas and Amitabh Bacchan at a promotional event of their science fiction dystopian film ‘Kalki 2898 AD’ in Mumbai on June 19, 2024. Image: Sujit Jaiswal / AFP)
Kalki 2898 AD’s co-producers, Swapna Dutt and Priyanka Dutt, were under monumental pressure before June 27, the release date of Vyjayanthi Movies’ ambitious dystopian science-fiction film.
Days were merging into sleepless nights as expectations from India’s most expensive film—heavy on visual effects and computer-generated imagery (CGI), and dubbed in Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada and Telugu, the film’s original language—were very high.
“It seemed like a daunting task given the timelines we had. We were worried if we will be able to deliver the film across screens in India, the US (and Canada), and its dubbed versions before the release date,” says Swapna over a video call while being driven to Vyjayanthi Movies’ office in Hyderabad.
One of the top production houses in the Telugu film industry, Vyjayanthi Movies was founded in 1974 by C Aswani Dutt, Swapna and Priyanka’s father, who is also the producer of Kalki.