Kalki 2989 AD: Did Keerthy Suresh Turn Down Deepika Padukone Or Disha Patani’s Role In Prabhas's Film?

Keerthy Suresh, known for her close collaboration with director Nag Ashwin in the critically acclaimed ‘Mahanati’ (2018), recently revealed that she turned down a ‘human’ role in his upcoming sci-fi epic ‘Kalki 2898 AD.’ In an interview with Galatta Plus, Keerthy shared that she was initially offered a different role before being cast as the AI bot Bujji.

Keerthy explained that she wasn’t entirely sure about the original role offered to her, though she was keen on being part of the film in some capacity. “Nagi offered me another role in the film, which I wasn’t sure of. It was a human role, I’m glad I said no to it now,” she said. Later, Nag Ashwin suggested a smaller role to her, jokingly asking if she’d like to “peep through the wall.” Keerthy was thrilled at the opportunity to voice Bujji, an AI droid, and embraced the challenge with enthusiasm.

She also clarified that the role she turned down was not the one played by Anna Ben, who portrayed the rebel character Kyra. Keerthy went on to describe her experience voicing Bujji, sharing how she enjoyed the process of dubbing in multiple languages and experimenting with different modulations to find the perfect voice for the character.

She shared, “I didn’t understand initially when he said he wanted me to voice an AI bot. I dubbed for Bujji & Bhairava (on Amazon Prime) before I worked on the film. I had a ball dubbing for the role in multiple languages, giving 5-6 modulations in each language to see which would suit it best. Dubbing for a film is normally easier.”

In ‘Kalki 2898 AD,’ Keerthy’s character BU-JZ-1, aka Bujji, is an AI droid brought to life by Bhairava, played by Prabhas. The animated prelude ‘Bujji & Bhairava’ introduced this futuristic world and its characters, including Deepika Padukone’s SU-M80, Kamal Haasan’s Supreme Yaskin, and Amitabh Bachchan’s Ashwatthama.

Keerthy Suresh is also set to appear in several upcoming Tamil films, including Raghu Thatha, Revolver Rita, and Kannivedi. Additionally, she is making her Bollywood debut in Baby John alongside Varun Dhawan, a remake of the Tamil hit Theri, directed by Atlee.