Close on the heels of Rajkumar Hirani, another filmmaker has claimed that he had an idea very similar to Christopher Nolan’s Inception. And that is Kalki 2898 AD director Nag Ashwin. In a recent interaction at a Hyderabad college, Ashwin opened up about what it takes to make a high-concept film, and how ideas are essentially universal.
Discussing the concept of developing the seed of an idea into something really concrete, Nag Ashwin said that the overlap of ideas is something that can happen to anyone at any point in their career. “I had written something like Inception in 2008. While the Nolan film was about dreams, mine was about memories. In fact, seeing the trailer of Inception made me go have a week of depression,” said the Mahanati director, who also pointed out that the real clincher is authenticity and not originality. “Honestly, originality is something out of your control, and it is okay to stop chasing it. Instead, concentrate more on bringing authenticity to your work.”
Expressing his admiration for Mahesh Babu’s Khaleja, directed by Trivikram Srinivas, Nag Ashwin picked the film when asked if there was any project that he wanted to direct. However, he added a twist to the answer. “I wouldn’t have directed Khaleja, but I always thought it would have been cool to be the editor on the project,” said Ashwin, who also picked Dear Comrade as a film that he would have loved editing.
Nevertheless, on the directorial front, Nag Ashwin is said to be working on the pre-production to the sequel of Kalki 2898 AD, featuring a stellar star cast with names like Amitabh Bachchan, Kamal Haasan, Prabhas, and Deepika Padukone. There are also speculations that he is in talks with Alia Bhatt for a Hindi film.
