I know you may not read this review thoroughly, and that’s fine with me. I’m writing this on a Saturday morning because I want you to watch the movie, Kesari 2.
Now, I can’t guarantee that you will like it, but I hope we get to see more films like this. Films that bring our history alive—even if they bend and twist it a little and take creative liberties, so what? At least they make us care enough to talk about it.
I have seen the interest CHHAAVA generated in the young crowd and what pride they felt with Sambhajee. (A late review coming soon)- Meanwhile, you can check the book review – SAMBHAJI by Vishwas Patil.
KESARI 2 is not a documentary. It plays with facts, adds drama, and spices up characters — but it sparks curiosity and delivers the message underneath it all. You may ask- how much of this is true, and I will have to say, like an ignorant Indian, I don’t know. And yes, it boiled my blood just to think that half of it might be true.
So, I request you to watch it. To ignite that little spark in you to know your roots, the price we have paid for the liberties we take for granted.
KESARI 2 BACKGROUND.
KESARI 2 is based on the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre ordered by General Dyer on 13th April 1919. Then, Shankaran Nair (Akshay Kumar), the British government advocate, files a case against General Dyer as the face behind the massacre of the peaceful gathering. Dilreet Gill (Ananya Panday) is the co-counsel. Neville McKinley (R. Madhavan), a British advocate, defends Dyer’s actions. The movie is a courtroom drama about how Shankaran Nair unfolds the truth behind the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.
POWERFUL STORYTELLING
The storytelling is engaging. It takes you through moments of bravery, betrayals, and battles without dragging you down with heavy lectures. It makes you curious and makes you check the facts. My daughter checked Google for Kripal Singh and Nair because her dad did not have answers for a change. And if you end up doing the same, pre- or post-movie, it will be a win for the movie and my writing being worthy of the time and effort.
PERFORMANCE. Madhavan steals the show.
The performances are neither exceptional nor underplayed. They are theatrical, good enough to keep you glued to the screen. Akshay Kumar, the king of biopics and Patriotic flavour, is good. Ananya Pandey blends into her role of a young lawyer fighting her first case, where emotions run high. But the person who makes his appearance only in the interval and then completely outperforms everyone is R Madhavan.
I rarely comment upon a film’s production values, but KESARIRI 2 deserves praise for its production design, costumes, makeup and hair, sets, overall ambience, and surrealistically created make-believe world of the past.
NET NET
There are creative liberties that are expected, as long as they don’t deviate from the film’s core: a courtroom drama about a painful memory of a genocide. I don’t see any reason to complain—after all, it’s a movie, not a history textbook.
KESARI 2 is worth your time—this weekend or any day. You will definitely come out knowing just a wee bit more about your history. Maybe that will make you feel more connected, or perhaps it will remind you that one must stand against political, regional, and religious practices that divide the nation.
REPEAT REQUEST.
So, if you have a couple of hours this weekend, give it a shot. Watch it with the family. Maybe you, like me, will feel that more such efforts should hit our screens.
And if you don’t like it?
Well, at least you can proudly say you gave history a chance, popcorn in hand.
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