Kesari

About the film

Kesari (transl. Saffron) is a 2019 Indian Hindi-language historical war film starring Akshay Kumar and directed by Anurag Singh. It follows the events leading to the Battle of Saragarhi, a battle between 21 Sikh soldiers of the 36th Sikhs Regiment of the British Indian Army and 10,000 - 12,000 Afridi and Orakzai Pashtun tribesmen in 1897.

Originally conceived as a joint production between Salman Khan and Karan Johar, Kesari was officially announced in October 2017 with Akshay Kumar cast as Havildar Ishar Singh, the real-life hero of the Battle of Saragarhi. While Khan later exited the project, Kumar and Johar remained attached in their respective roles. Parineeti Chopra was eventually cast as the wife of Kumar’s character. Principal photography for the film began in January 2018 and concluded in December. The soundtrack was composed by Tanishk Bagchi, Arko Pravo Mukherjee, Chirantan Bhatt, Jasbir Jassi, Gurmoh and Jasleen Royal with lyrics written by Kumaar, Manoj Muntashir, Kunwar Juneja and Bagchi. Produced on a budget of ₹80 crore (equivalent to ₹99 crore or US$10 million in 2023), the film was distributed internationally by Zee Studios.

Plot

Havildar Ishar Singh is a soldier in the 36th Sikhs Regiment of the British Indian Army. His superior and commander is an arrogant British officer who deems all Indians to be cowards, and is jealous of Ishar Singh because of his superior fighting skills.

The regiment is posted at Gulistan Fort, on the border between British-held territory and the Afghan border. Once, while on a border patrol, the troops see a group of Pashtun Afghan tribesmen, led by Saidullah, on the verge of killing a married Afghan woman because she refuses to accept her husband, who has been chosen by her family without her consent. The British officer refuses to intervene and save the woman, saying she is an Afghan citizen and does not reside in British territory; since it is a family matter pertaining to tribal custom, the policy of the British Raj is to not interfere. In defiance of the orders of his officer, Ishar Singh fights off the tribesmen and rescues the woman by killing her husband.

The British officer writes a strong report informing his commanding officer, who sits at the nearby Lockhart fort, of Ishar Singh's disobedience and insubordination. Soon enough, the Afghans attack the British-controlled Gulistan fort, but are held at bay by Ishar Singh, who fights valiantly and kills many Afghans. Nevertheless, Ishar Singh is blamed by his superiors for his actions, which caused the breach of peace with the Afghans. He is given a punishment transfer to Saragarhi fort, which sits between Gulistan and Lockhart forts, and enables communication between them. Ishar Singh duly travels to Saragarhi fort, where he finds the troop in a mess. He enforces discipline by punishing all to stay without food for an entire week. The troops are furious at first, but later begin to respect Ishar Singh after learning that he too was living without food. Meanwhile, Saidullah forms an alliance between the Afghan tribes and motivates them to mount an attack on British territories as a unified force. Ishar Singh and Lal Singh go to a nearby village in search of their informant, who hadn't reported to them for over three days.

Production

In 2017, Salman Khan and Karan Johar announced that they would be producing a film together based on the Battle of Saragarhi starring Akshay Kumar in the lead role. Media reports later speculated Khan left the project in favor of a similarly themed film starring Ajay Devgn, and in October that year, Johar and Kumar announced a statement about their collaboration on the film; that Khan had quit the film, and that it would be titled Kesari. Parineeti Chopra was confirmed for a minor role as the wife of Kumar's character, whom he had left behind at the village after joining the army.

Principal photography began on 5 January 2018 and finished on 31 December 2018. The film was produced on a budget of ₹80 crore (equivalent to ₹99 crore or US$10 million in 2023).

Music

The music of the film is composed by Tanishk Bagchi, Arko Pravo Mukherjee, Chirantan Bhatt, Arijit Singh, Jasbir Jassi, Gurmoh and Jasleen Royal with lyrics written by Kumaar, Manoj Muntashir, Kunwar Juneja and Tanishk Bagchi.

Marketing and release

Kumar released Kesari's first look poster on 12 September 2018, through Twitter. Another poster was released on India's Republic Day, 26 January 2019. The film's theatrical poster was released on 11 February 2019.

The following day, Dharma Productions released three videos titled "Glimpses of Kesari" on their YouTube channel, detailing the film's production. A second theatrical release poster for Kesari was released on 20 February 2019.

The first song of the film "Sanu Kehndi" was released on 27 February 2019, while the second song, "Teri Mitti", was released on 15 March 2019 and the full album was released on 18 March 2019.

Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, 33% of 15 critics' reviews are positive, with an average of 5.1 out of 10.Rachit Gupta of The Times of India gave Kesari four stars out of five, praising its "technical brilliance, intricate writing and thundering performances". Writing for Times Now, Gaurang Chauhan rated the film three and a half stars out of five and opined, "Kesari is not the best patriotic film or action film to come out of Bollywood, but it surely is worth the time and money".

Key details