Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers from Kalki 2898 AD.

Kalki 2898 AD released in theatres today. The Nag Ashwin-directed sci-fi film features Prabhas, Amitabh Bachchan, Deepika Padukone, Kamal Haasan and more. And as if the star-studded cast wasn’t enough, the film has a series of surprise cameos. Kalki’s post-apocalyptic world is full of familiar faces. Here are all the celebrities who have cameos in the film.

Mrunal Thakur

#Kalki
Mrunal in Kalki2898AD âÂÂ�£ï¸Ã‚Â�#mrunalthakur #MrunalThakur #Kalki2898AD #KALKI2898AD‌O #KALKI2898AD‌Bookings #Prabhas‌ pic.twitter.com/oKlMVqRDka

— Chandu_Virat18 (@Chandu_Kohli18) June 26, 2024

Deepika Padukone isn’t the only one with a baby bump in Kalki 2898 AD. Mrunal Thakur plays a pregnant woman named Divya. The rebels who are up against the Supreme Yaskin’s evil rule believe she is carrying a future God as foretold in a prophecy. Unfortunately for her, fertile women are captured to create a specific serum that benefits Yaskin. Also, it turns out she isn’t the one the rebels were looking for. She is publically killed by Saswata Chatterjee’s evil Commander Manas after being discovered with the rebels.

Ram Gopal Varma

#KALKI #kalki2898ad #kalki2898 @RGVzoomin #ramgopalvarma sir ðŸ‘ÂÂ� pic.twitter.com/hQDG3dZN9P

— Jhonny depp (@Jhonnydepp0408) June 27, 2024

This is perhaps the cameo that got the most chuckles along with hoots. Ram Gopal Varma plays a resourceful food seller in the film. When Prabhas’ Bhairava goes to him for a good meal, he complains about the bounty hunter’s tab. However, he does sell an egg that’s hard to come by in the impoverished Kaashi.

Dulquer Salmaan

#Kalki #DulquerSalmaan pic.twitter.com/1QUYlxP050

— Daemon Targaryen (@spearl94) June 27, 2024

Dulquer Salmaan playing a bounty hunter with long hair? Yes, please. The actor appears in a flashback as Bhairava narrates his life story. Referring to him as captain, he reveals that the man took him in and trained him. We then get a fun training montage and a closer look at their family-like bond. However, when he gets the chance to go to the coveted Complex, the Captain decides to sell a young Bhairava for units. Turns out the latter was smarter than that as he strikes a deal to sell the Captain instead.

SS Rajamouli

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— DEBUG CHAPS 👨‍💻 (@debugchaps) June 27, 2024

In an epic meta moment, director SS Rajamouli shows up in Kalki 2898 AD. He plays an unnamed bounty hunter racing in a futuristic car to get Bhairava’s bounty. Bhairava hilariously says that if he gets caught, he’ll be stuck for 5 years. As he starts getting away, Rajamouli’s character later says that if he gets him next time, he’ll keep him busy for 10 years – a reference to the long period of time it took to make the iconic Baahubali film series. It was a fun wink-wink moment between the two.

Vijay Deverakonda

Literally What a performance 🔥 by Vijay Deverakonda in climax of Kalki2898ad 🙇ðŸÂÂ�»‍♂ï¸Ã‚Â�âÂÂ�¤ #Kalki #Kalki2898 #Kalki2808AD #KalkiReview #Kalki2898ADReview #Kalki2898ADonJune27 #VijayDeverakonda pic.twitter.com/tNf9OHfdLC

— Prsanjeet sarkar (@OP_Prsanjeet) June 27, 2024

The cherry on top of the fanservice cake was Vijay Deverakonda’s cameo. The actor plays a pivotal role in setting up the mythological narrative of the film. In flashback scenes, we see a de-aged Amitabh Bachchan’s Ashwatthama on the battlefield. He’s up against none other than Vijay’s Arjun. He can be seen in full period costume as he wields a bow and arrow, delivering some intense lines while he’s at it. We never thought we’d get to see Arjun Reddy playing Arjun.

Kalki 2898 AD is currently in theatres.

Joe Biden and Donald Trump square off Thursday in a crucial US presidential debate that carries enormous stakes for both candidates as they battle for the approval of undecided voters and any slim advantage in their neck and neck race for the White House.

Millions of Americans will tune in to the highly anticipated clash that fires the starting gun on what promises to be a bruising summer of campaigning in a deeply polarized country still scarred by the chaos and violence that accompanied the 2020 election.

With only two debates this election cycle and national polls showing the pair locked in the tightest of contests, Thursday’s event at CNN headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia takes on heightened significance.

For many voters, the choice between President Biden, the oldest ever incumbent, and Trump, now a convicted felon, is an uninspiring one — a dynamic both candidates need to counter as they go head to head.

For Trump, an instinctive political pugilist, the challenge will be to rein in the aggressive tendencies he unleashed — to his detriment — in their first chaotic debate four years ago.

The 81-year-old Biden will be desperate to avoid any major gaffes that could underline concerns about his age, and to focus on his key campaign message that Trump poses an existential threat to US democracy.

There is certainly no love lost between the two candidates and both sides have agreed to a series of debate rules aimed at minimizing the prospect of a shouting match.

There will be no studio audience, depriving candidates of the momentum that comes from ginning up supporters, and microphones will cut out when a candidate’s speaking time is over.

To coincide with the debate, both camps unleashed a series of fresh attack ads, with Trump’s team taking out TV spots accusing Biden of mismanaging the economy and encouraging illegal immigration.

In a morning post on his Truth Social platform, Trump argued that Biden was the real threat to democracy, “and a threat to the survival and existence of our country itself.”

The Democratic Party, meanwhile, paid for five massive billboards in Atlanta trolling Trump over his legal troubles. “Donald, welcome to Atlanta for the first time since becoming a convicted felon. Congrats – or whatever…” the signs said.

Trump enjoys a slight advantage in the all-important swing states but the overall polling looks extremely close in an election likely to be decided by a few photo finishes in a handful of battlegrounds.

The latest Quinnipiac University poll shows Trump edging ahead of Biden nationally, 49 percent to 45 percent.

The rivals both step onstage for the 90-minute debate seeking to allay fears about serious political liabilities.

Biden faces the most concern about his mental sharpness, with voters much more likely to bring up his age than Trump’s, despite the Republican being just three years younger.

Ahead of the debate, both Trump and Biden have had missteps, stumbling over words or appearing muddled.

Trump is also engulfed in controversy over his inflammatory rhetoric, his recent conviction on 34 counts of falsifying business records, and fears he would weaponize the presidency to settle personal scores.

Fine-tuning or freewheeling

Biden has spent the last week off the radar at the Camp David retreat near Washington, fine-tuning his attack lines in mock debates under real TV lighting.

Trump’s preparation has been more relaxed, eschewing dress rehearsals in favor of informal policy roundtables and workshopping debate strategy with rally crowds.

Aides have encouraged him to focus on his perceived strength on the economy and crime, while Biden will seek to paint Trump as unhinged and unfit for office.

The Trump campaign has repeatedly characterized Biden as feeble and incompetent, but changed tack in recent days following warnings that setting low expectations for the Democratic president would only help him.

“We know that Joe Biden, that after taking an entire week off, will be ready for this,” senior Trump campaign advisor Jason Miller told reporters.

One of Biden’s biggest vulnerabilities is border security, with Trump promising to combat an influx of undocumented migrants from Mexico with mass deportations and repeatedly bringing up killings by migrants.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Decrying the excesses that had taken place during the period, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor has hit out at the government for using the Emergency as a “diversionary tactic” and said that while imposing it may have been undemocratic, it was not unconstitutional.

In an exclusive interview with NDTV on Thursday, the senior leader, who has just been reelected as the MP from Thiruvananthapuram for the fourth consecutive time, also addressed issues like the demand for replacing the ‘sengol’ and the NEET paper leaks, which are set to dominate the ongoing session of Parliament. 

To a question on the Congress and other opposition parties opposing the references to the Emergency by Speaker Om Birla on Thursday and President Droupadi Murmu in her address on Friday, Mr Tharoor asked why something that happened 49 years ago was being “dredged up” so forcefully by the government. 

Accusing the BJP-led NDA of moving the goalposts and either talking about 1975 or 2047, and not about the present, he said the focus should be on burning issues like unemployment, the NEET paper leaks and the situation in Manipur. 

On the BJP using the Emergency to blunt the Congress’ plank that it was trying to save the Constitution, which yielded dividends in the Lok Sabha polls, the MP said, “The irony is that is actually one thing the BJP could not accurately say. I am a critic of the Emergency, but the very fact is that the Emergency may have been undemocratic, but it was not unconstitutional. It was a provision in the Constitution that permitted the imposition of an internal emergency. That provision has since been removed.”

“But it was there at the time and therefore what was done by the government in 1975 was strictly within the boundaries of the Constitution. So for the rashtrapati to say it was an unconstitutional attack or an attack on the Constitution is actually inaccurate in legal terms. I am not supporting the emergency; I think arresting opposition politicians, censoring the press and a number of steps taken were undemocratic steps, but they were, sadly, not unconstitutional steps,” he asserted. 

The Congress leader emphasised that the Constitution had not been suspended during those months and even the 42nd Amendment – which amended the Preamble and is referred to as a ‘mini Constitution’ –  was “passed within the provisions of the existing system”. 

“So I am not saying this is something to be proud of. I don’t think we should be debating the Emergency and politics today when there are more important things to do. But I am just challenging the claim that it was unconstitutional. It was not. It was completely within the Constitution, however undesirable,” he said. 

The ‘Sengol’ Debate

The BJP has attacked the opposition over the Samajwadi Party’s demand that the ‘sengol’ – a sceptre symbolising the transition of power from the British Raj to self-rule by Indians – be replaced with a copy of the Constitution in the Lok Sabha. The demand has also been backed by at least one senior Congress leader, who said that the baton symbolises “kingship”.

When Mr Tharoor was asked about this, he said, “This is a debate I personally don’t wish to enter into because I can see the arguments on both sides – one that it is a symbol of monarchy and we are a republic, and the other saying it is a purely symbolic thing and honours a part of India… And I don’t really want to pick and choose between these two things.”

“I will say, however, that what the Congress Party and the opposition are focused upon are the real issues facing people today, which, certainly include NEET. We are concerned about unemployment, particularly for young people, and we are concerned very, very seriously, about some of the issues the government simply does not want to talk about, from Manipur to the India-China border,” he emphasised. 

Advice For Rahul Gandhi?

Asked if he had any advice for Rahul Gandhi, who is now the Leader of the Opposition and is holding his first constitutional post, he said the former Congress president has emerged as a “considerable leader” in his own right. 

“The turning of the narrative began with the two Bharat Jodo Yatras, particularly the first one, which seized the imagination of the nation and of young people everywhere. He (Rahul Gandhi) moved on from there into this very effective, active campaigning for the Lok Sabha elections of 2024. I think his ability to now frame the narrative in a way that appeals to and attracts large numbers of people is beyond dispute. So I would say that he doesn’t need any advice from the likes of me,” Mr Tharoor said. 

“What he needs is now the opportunity to use the platform of being Leader of the Opposition to set the agenda for the government to respond to, and to ensure that the government is kept on the nation’s business rather than distracting us with what are really not relevant debates. A vast majority of the Indian population was not even born when the Emergency was declared,” he pointed out.

Opposition’s Strength

The Thiruvananthapuram MP, who was once in a race for the Congress president’s post, also said that it is in the government’s interest to focus on cooperation rather than confrontation with the opposition. 

“This is no longer a small number of MPs that you can just roll over with a brute majority. This is a very large swathe of Indian public opinion represented in these elections, and we are talking about 234 members in the India Alliance alone, as well as others who are not affiliated with the government… The problem often is that the government acts as if they don’t really need to consult the opposition and that, I believe, would be very unwise,” he warned.