Cast: Akshay Kumar, Parineeti Chopra, Edward Sonnenblick, R. Bhakti Klein, Mark Bennington;
Director: Anurag Singh;
Mounted with utter-greatness, Director Anurag Singh’s “Kesari” is a fictionalised piece, documenting the true story of one of the bravest battles in history, the Battle of Saragarhi.
Led by Havaldar Ishar Singh (Akshay Kumar) of the 36th Sikh Regiment, it’s the story of 21 gallant Sikh soldiers who died at their post while defending the fort of Saragarhi from Afghan invaders on September 12, 1897.
History claims that they were attacked by 10,000 Afghan tribesman in retaliation to the British control of the area.
While the writers have taken every care to circumvent any major historical mistakes or errors of period detail, the dumbing down of messages, including the act of patriotism, is lazily crafted. For example, we are told what does “Kesari” signify, who laid down the foundation stone of the Harminder Sahib and why these Sikhs were ready to lay down their lives.