슬롯사이트˜Kesari Chapter 2슬롯사이트™ Movie Review: Akshay Kumar슬롯사이트™s Formulaic Approach Does More Disservice to This Distorted Chapter From History (LatestLY Exclusive)

Kesari Chapter 2 Movie Review:A great film doesn슬롯사이트™t necessarily need a great story. Similarly, a great story doesn슬롯사이트™t always translate into a great film. A prime example of this can be found in Akshay Kumar슬롯사이트™s recent filmography - many of his films are built on solid ideas and good intentions (think PadMan, Toilet: Ek Prem Katha, Mission Mangal, Good Newwz, Rustom, OMG 2) - but not all of them land as good cinema. Sadly, Kesari Chapter 2 falls into that same category. Touted as "the untold story of the Jallianwala Bagh," as proudly proclaimed in the film슬롯사이트™s tagline (never mind The Waking of a Nation series on Sony LIV covered similar ground just weeks ago), Kesari Chapter 2 fumbles the execution and the writing.슬롯 머신 사이트 추천슬롯사이트˜Kesari Chapter 2슬롯사이트™ Fan-First Screenings: Makers of Akshay Kumar슬롯사이트™s Upcoming Historical Drama Announce Exclusive Shows in 5 Cities Two Days Before Release.

Directed by Karan Singh Tyagi, Kesari Chapter 2 centres on C Sankaran Nair and his involvement in the aftermath of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. The film opens with a brutal depiction of the massacre on 13 April 1919, where thousands gathered at the maidan to protest against the Rowlatt Act. General Dyer arrives with troops and orders them to open fire on unarmed civilians without warning. Men, women, children - all are mercilessly gunned down. Those who try to flee jump into a well in a desperate attempt to escape, only to drown.

'Kesari Chapter 2' Movie Review - C Sankaram Nair vs The Crown

As any Indian living in this country, you should know this horrific incident by now. It was disturbingly captured in the third act of Shoojit Sircar슬롯사이트™s Sardar Udham - whose lead, Vicky Kaushal, returns here as narrator. What follows in Kesari Chapter 2 is what the filmmakers claim is the "untold chapter": a courtroom battle led by C Sankaran Nair, an aristocratic Malayali barrister knighted by the British Empire, who seeks to hold General Dyer (played with enough smarminess and zero nuance by Simon Paisley Day) accountable for what he calls nothing short of genocide.

Watch the Trailer of 'Kesari Chapter 2':

The court case also attempts to debunk the British claim that protestors were armed terrorists, which gave Dyer a supposed justification to open fire. Nair is joined by Dilreet Gill (Ananya Panday), a conscientious young lawyer, while his adversary in court is former colleague Neville McKinley (R Madhavan), whose personal grudge adds drama. The rest of the film unfolds around Nair슬롯사이트™s efforts to bring Dyer to justice.

'Kesari Chapter 2' Movie Review - Reimagined Events

Kesari Chapter 2 is based on - or rather, loosely inspired by - the book The Case That Shook the Empire by Raghu and Pushpa Palat. If you슬롯사이트™ve read the book, the liberties taken by the film will be glaring. Events are significantly altered, including the trial at the film슬롯사이트™s centre - which didn슬롯사이트™t happen the way it슬롯사이트™s portrayed.

Don슬롯사이트™t get me wrong - I슬롯사이트™m fine with cinematic liberties. I even let it slide when the film shows Nair receiving his knighthood on the very day of the massacre (in reality, it was seven years prior). But if you're marketing your film as an "untold story" from history, it should at least respect the facts, especially in an era when audiences often take what's shown on screen as truth - just look at the Chhaava aftermath. Or, do what RRR did, and clearly present it as an alternate history.

In Kesari Chapter 2, the fictionalised elements stretch the truth so far that they reshape the entire narrative. For instance, Nair never actually went to court against Dyer. His legal battle was with O슬롯사이트™Dwyer, the then Lieutenant Governor of Punjab (who was later assassinated by Sardar Udham in London). Nair슬롯사이트™s criticism of O슬롯사이트™Dwyer appeared in his book Gandhi and Anarchy (1922), which led to a libel case filed by O슬롯사이트™Dwyer in London. This was the trial that put Nair in the spotlight - he had by then resigned from the Viceroy슬롯사이트™s Council after the massacre.

None of this is shown in the film. Instead, Nair is shown replacing Chimanlal Harilal Setalvad - a lawyer on the Hunter Commission that investigated Dyer and pushed for action against him. (Fun fact: Taaruk Raina슬롯사이트™s character in The Waking of a Nation is based on Setalvad.)

In the film, the Commission gives Dyer a clean chit, with Nair as the sole dissenter. This pushes him and Dilreet into launching a case against Dyer and the Crown. In reality, the Hunter Commission슬롯 머신 사이트 추천held Dyer responsible and relieved him of his command, though it stopped short of recommending a harsher punishment due to support from his superiors.슬롯 머신 사이트 추천Kesari Movie Review: Akshay Kumar슬롯사이트™s Tribute to Battle of Saragarhi Is a Wasted Opportunity That Works Only in Parts.

Here슬롯사이트™s my issue: if you actually read about C Sankaran Nair, you슬롯사이트™ll see the real court case was just as compelling. Even in losing, Nair gained widespread admiration. So why not just tell that story?

'Kesari Chapter 2' Movie Review - Turns Into a Template Akshay Kumar Film

Instead, Kesari Chapter 2 goes down the familiar Akshay Kumar route - where his character starts off disconnected (Airlift), changes sides after witnessing injustice to a character (Jolly LLB 2), and then single-handedly takes on the system. He슬롯사이트™s humiliated (his face is blackened à la Ram Setu), he drops one-liners, and then delivers a dramatic monologue to wrap things up (Sky Force flashbacks, anyone?). There's also the wife character, played by Regina Cassandra, whose whole purpose is to have a couple of scenes where she has to staunchly stand by her husband before disappearing for large expanses. Again, an Akshay Kumar movie trope.

In between, there is also an 'item song', or rather, a club song featuring Masaba Gupta, that clearly sticks out in the movie like a sore thumb, never mind if the setting was made essential to introducing a character.

The courtroom drama, which should be the film슬롯사이트™s centrepiece, keeps falling flat due to some very weak writing that focuses more on making a statement instead of making a conclusive argument. At times, it takes bizarre detours (like linking the massacre to a #MeToo case?). The film forgets its own rules - suddenly introducing surprise witnesses, then reminding us that witnesses need to be vetted. The arguments mostly consist of people schooling each other, which ends when Akshay gets to deliver that final, emotionally stirring speech, presented in the most convoluted of circumstances.

'Kesari Chapter 2' Movie Review - The Performances

Speaking of whom, Akshay commands the screen and brings so much conviction when he has to make a point (again, see the climactic speech), sure, but he also turns every character of his into a template. Here, his portrayal of Nair is just another serious Akshay character in glasses. The film슬롯사이트™s attempts to portray him as a Malayali are almost laughable - he슬롯사이트™s introduced in Kathakali attire and says one broken Malayalam sentence.

Ananya Panday is okay, or rather, she actually feels miscast here, in a character that feels superficial to the plot (the film even forgets her character's contribution when the end credits claim Nair single-handedly fought against the British). R Madhavan is solid - in fact, I believe he would have made for a better Sankaran Nair than Akshay. That said, I thought the motivation behind his character슬롯사이트™s grudge against Nair feels flimsy and underexplored. For someone shown as clever, he falls for unverified gossip far too easily.

The production design is fairly good, and the movie does a fairly powerful recreation of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, though not as haunting as how슬롯 머신 사이트 추천Sardar Udham슬롯 머신 사이트 추천portrayed it, or for the matter, even슬롯 머신 사이트 추천The Legend of Bhagat Singh슬롯 머신 사이트 추천did in a few minutes.

One commendable moment arrives during the end credits, where Kesari Chapter 2 solemnly lists the recorded victims of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. This could have been genuinely moving - were it not for the lingering sense that it serves as a last-ditch effort to add gravitas to an otherwise weakly written film.

The film also deserves some credit for exploring how a fascist system can manipulate narratives through media, demonstrating how easily the innocent can be branded as terrorists, and how readily false charges can be fabricated when the powerful demand it. Yet one can't help but wonder: how much of this resonates with today's public? Only a fraction of audiences will likely draw parallels to the persistent injustices of our own times.

'Kesari Chapter 2' Movie Review - Final Thoughts

Kesari Chapter 2 had the potential to be a powerful historical courtroom drama that honoured a forgotten chapter of India슬롯사이트™s freedom struggle, even if facts were manipulated on screen. Instead, it settles for cinematic shortcuts and dramatic clichés, diluting its noble intentions and story. The tragedy isn't just the distortion of history - it's the missed opportunity to tell it with the integrity it deserved.

(The opinions expressed in the above article are of the author and do not reflect the stand or position of LatestLY.)

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 18, 2025 05:24 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).