- Date of Release: 18 April 2025
- Genre: Biopic, Drama, Historical
- Language: Hindi
- Watch On: Theatres Only
Kesari Chapter 2: The Untold Story of Jallianwala Bagh
Introduction
The Jallianwala Bagh Massacre has got to be one of the darkest chapters of Indian History. And in the new Hindi film Kesari Chapter 2 (aka Kesari 2), the core emotion of the massacre is represented through the gaze of a young boy Pargat Singh (Krish Rao) who accompanies his mother and his younger sister to a peaceful procession on the fateful day of 13th April 1919. In an early scene, you see him spotting an aircraft in the sky before sharing a warm and playful moment with his mother. Their emotional bond symbolizes the thousands of bonds in the open field which are soon about to be slaughtered at the hands of General Dyer and his troops. Ironically, the final exchange between him and his mother is with the words – ‘Rab Raakha’ (May God Be With You), something that becomes an anti-thesis of the remainder of his life too. Soon, mayhem follows – people are killed, children are shot, some even at a point blank range. Yet in an intercutting scene, you are introduced to the protagonist C Sankaran Nair (Akshay Kumar) – a top lawyer and a mouth-piece of the British empire who is soon to be handed over Knighthood for his services. In a parallel sequence – you see the young boy carrying the dead body of his loved one, and Sankaran carrying the knighthood badge in his arms. The themes and the ultimate story are interlinked with Sankaran’s journey from being an aide to the British empire to ultimately fighting against them.
Story & Screenplay
In many ways, Kesari Chapter 2 can be viewed as much of a coming of age tale of Sankaran too, along with a resounding tale of defiance, morality and justice that go hand in hand after a point. The sentiments around the principal event are already so strong, that the film automatically becomes a medium of rage towards the British, and their unapologetic outlook to the deaths that transpired. Hence, even the broad strokes with respect to the drama land perfectly to etch out the right sentiments in the film. In a scene, you see the emphasis being on the word ‘terrorists’ that pretty much sums up the cause of rage amidst the victims and the audience, wherein the lines of cinema and morality begin to blur! And Sankaran solely remains at the helm of things – he slowly begins to feel fishy with the number of deaths of each side even as the official figure is drastically concealed. He is also witness to the young boy (and one of the few survivors) holding a silence placard of pain and angst. Elsewhere, he witnesses his own voice being silenced in the midst of the power dynamics that eerily paint a direct comparison to the world that we live in today. The realisation does set in, for the greater good!
The gaze is binary with no scope of intricacies unlike what you may have witnessed in the SonyLiv webshow The Waking Of A Nation (2025) wherein Taaruk Raina played a fictionalized version of Sankaran Nair. The tone is targeted at a higher pitch as opposed to the understated approach of the webshow. The lesser themes of perspectives are bartered for the more crowd-pleasing emotions of the simmering angst, and that wasn’t entirely a bad thing either. The simpler the emotions, the better the impact – something that the writers follow to the T (and efficiently so). One of the underlying themes of the drama is with respect to the politics that shapes up in the vicinity. The loss of free-speech and over-powering the press, and imposing a resounding opinion of slavery were a few pointers that formed the crux of the power dynamics. The billboards of ‘No Dogs And Indians Allowed’ were a symbol of authority, something that is reflected through the gaze of Dilreet Gill (Ananya Panday), a young lawyer that acts as a catalyst in reminding Sankaran of his duties. As a result, the Sankaran Nair story can also be viewed as a searing tale of an underdog who rises to the might of the British empire.
The drama here follows a certain template that is largely simplistic but utterly crowd-pleasing. In the mix, you are also introduced to Neville Mckinley (R Madhavan), a worthy nemesis of Sankaran directly employed in a game of one-upmanship. For Mckinley, the gaze is personal and also competitive, and not so much a fight of morality. Hence, the character dynamics despite reeking of predictability still manage to hold your attention due to the wonderful emotional connect that the drama has to offer. This emotional connect continues to act as a reminder at multiple instances in the screenplay – in a scene, you see Sankaran quietly taking a walk at the barren land of Jallianwala Bagh while reminiscing the pain and the angst from the confining walls. In another, Sankaran reminds General Dyer of how mercilessly young kids were killed against the argument of ‘terrorists having weapons’, that formed a crucial reminder to its viewers too. At no point are you disconnected from the drama given its strong emotional core.
A little criticism that I had with respect to the writing even in its wonderful broad stroke avatar, was the establishment of a few conflicts within the main conflict. I did feel that some conflicts that were established needed to be fleshed out a little more, as opposed to quickly moving to the resolution. For instance, a young British woman talking about a traumatic incident was met with a faster resolution after two scenes. It didn’t allow enough time to either create doubt in the minds of the viewers, nor emotionally attach to the argument presented. Another little scene involving the past of General Dyer meets a similar fate, before cutting short a promising argument (which was partly laughable too with its staging). The impression that I got was that the writers were probably keen on incorporating a lot many incidents around the event at the behest of quickly moving from one plot-point to another. That said, the redemption arc of Sankaran is a good one. It is rousing (although on-your-nose) with a healthy mix of jingoism that is put to good effect in the narrative. The thing with jingoism is simple – if the emotion around it is strong, the impact and the wave will be stronger, something that we witness in a moving finale. The emotions do hit you even more with the rolling titles (and you will know why when you watch the film), thereby summing up a screenplay that was largely broad stroke but effective with the core that it catered to!
Dialogues, Music & Direction
The dialogues are powerful and backed by such strong emotions that often supersede you while compelling you to break into a rupturous applause. And this is what good writing does – it moves you even with the simplest of emotions. The music is outstanding here while packing a sentiment of its own through the songs. The BGM further elevates the drama here while catering to several emotions that are brimming beneath the surface. The cinematography and production design will have to be one of the unsung heroes of the film. The frames do not shy away from the gore while being sensitive to the underlying emotions that are centered around the tragedy. The lighting beautifully compliments the narrative while setting a tone that is sombre and pensive, something that adds depth to the proceedings. The little criticism that I had was with the editing. The attempt to frequently tilt towards a flashback did not always land, while not only briefly taking you away from the emotion but also presenting the drama as marginally choppy. Yet, the emotions remained so powerful that these blips remained nothing but minor distractions. Director Karan Singh Tyagi delivers a deeply sensitive and a provocative drama that hits the right notes with its emotions. While the filmmaking was deliberately designed to be binary, the world building and characterization remained powerful and supremely impactful wherein the director did showcase a great deal of temperament in handling a sensitive subject. Yes, the final result wasn’t pitch perfect but still the effort remained a commendable one – something that was rousing and largely pleasing in many ways.
Performances
The performances are wonderful to witness by the members of the cast. Alexx O’Nell, Rohan Verma, Jaipreet Singh and Alexandra Moloney as Martha have their moments to shine and do a solid job. Regena Cassandrra as Parvathi is sincere and does well despite an underwritten character. Amit Sial as Tirath is terrific in a conniving character that has his morality skewed. He definitely makes a subtle impact with his performance. I was mighty impressed by Krish Rao who is terrific as Pargat Singh. Simon Paisley Day has got to be the best casting of the film simply because he is terrifying and infuriating as General Dyer. The man doesn’t flinch at all while showcasing his brutality that is worth a million nightmares, even while excelling in key moments during the courtroom scenes. He was brilliant to witness here.
R Madhavan as Neville Mckinley has a magnetic screen presence while posing as a perfect nemesis to the character of Sankaran. I wish there were layers to his character that largely remained one-note but it was the prowess of a terrific performer that put forth a powerful act. Ananya Panday as Dilreet is extremely competent and she remains sincere and earnest with her performance. But the drama is largely elevated by a brilliant act by an in-form Akshay Kumar who shines as C Sankaran Nair. He remains understated with his performance almost allowing his sensitivity to incur a transformation for his character. And he is explosive with his arguments that are pitched at the right tone, just enough to move you with the emotions while never going overboard with the tone. It was a well measured performance that was a recall to some of his decade old performances in films like Airlift (2016). Akshay Kumar was the soul of the film and it remained a moving performance to savour and cherish!
Conclusion
Boasting of incredible performances, Kesari Chapter 2 is an emotional and rousing tale of defiance and morality set in the aftermath of the Jallianwala Bagh genocide that makes for a powerful watch. Available in a theatre near you.
