For those who haven't seen 'Kalki 2898 AD', here is some background information. The movie reveals which Mahabharata character Bhairava, played by Prabhas, is a reincarnation of.
The character from the epic is a complex one. Several scholars themselves are divided over how good or bad, how desirable or undesirable a character he is. If some believe that he was an epitome of a particular virtue, other scholars argue that just one dimension of his personality doesn't make him Dharmic.
Leaving the arguments both in favour of and against the character, why might director Nag Ashwin have chosen the character for Prabhas? Two probable reasons could be:
1. The character is a complex one and today's films project protagonists with shades of grey. With such characters, the possibilities are wide, especially in the case of franchises or two-part movies. You can write a redemption arc for them, you can make them opt for questionable means all while subjecting the audience to surprises. With out-and-out virtuous protagonists, this is not possible. So, Ashwin might want to explore more in the second part.
2. The other reason could be that Ashwin has no plans to make Prabhas the hero in the second part. Probably, 'Kalki 2' is going to be about some other character more than Prabhas'. As it is, Prabhas is not really the hero of 'Kalki 2898 AD', if you think of it. His screen time in the first half is extremely limited. Even in the second half, he is absent in a lot of stretches.
