Movie Review & Rating for Kesari Chapter 2: The Jallianwala Bagh massacre in April 1919 is still a sore spot more than a century after it happened. The events of that awful day, when General Reginald Dyer gave his forces the order to open fire without warning on countless unarmed innocent people, many of whom were women and children, have never been disputed.
When a spotter plane soared overhead, shoot-to-kill instructions were yelled, and the ground was covered with the bodies of the dead and dying, the Amritsar residents who had congregated to protest the Rowlatt Act were unaware that it had been sent in to determine their numbers.
The second installment of the franchise, “Kesari 2,” which follows the 2019 film “Kesari,” has no thematic connections to the first one; however, it is similar in that it emphasises a revolt against the British Empire once more, which instills a sense of patriotism.
The freedom movement was gathering momentum at the time, and Dyer’s heinous act had put the Crown at a disadvantage. The freshly knighted Sir C Sankaran Nair (Akshay Kumar), the “best Indian barrister,” arrives on horseback, ready to defend Dyer. The man who knows as much about “kalaripayattu as kanoon” has a change of heart after being confronted with growing evidence to the contrary and a conscience-attack. From that point on, everything is aimed at the person responsible for the massacre and the power of the Empire.
Based on Raghu and Pushpa Palat’s book “The Case That Shook The Empire,” “Kesari 2” is a tastefully staged prestige film that follows the predictable plot without any surprises. Given the abundance of talented performers in Malayalam cinema, it could be relevant to enquire as to why the directors were unable to cast a Keralite to play “a man from Keral,” but since this is framed as an Akshay Kumar vehicle, it is a stupid query.
After her recent “Jaat” outing, Regina Cassandra was cast as Nair’s devoted wife, and she makes an impression in a minor part. Ananya Panday portrays the other female character, Dilreet Gill, a local female lawyer. She makes a concerted effort to be believable, yet her body language and dialogue are obstinately modern.
With Simon Paisley Day fervently grimacing and frowning throughout the movie, the actors portraying the British characters all have their stiff upper lip in place. He makes no effort to conceal his deep-seated animosity for the “Indian slaves” he rides roughshod over.
However, Akshay, who portrays Nair as an extension of his previous recent performances, is given more screen time than any of them. The only exception is R Madhavan, who plays Neville McKiney, a half-British, half-Indian character who is known to be Nair’s fiercest opponent. In the second half of the courtroom drama, Akshay and Madhavan square off with thunderous exchanges. Additionally, we get populist lines in which Akshay’s character Nair frequently uses the F word in reference to the British masters. He yells, “Xxxx off,” and the crowd applauds throughout my first day of the show. The use of such unparliamentary language, which would never have been permitted in a courtroom, and particularly not during that time, is mind-boggling. Do filmmakers claim this as their “creative liberty”?
Although the movie is obviously in line with the Make India Great Again philosophy, there are a few cleverly subversive elements woven throughout. What seems like a dwindling hope these days is confirmed by a line about a joint “Hindu-Muslim” celebration around Ram Navami that took place for the “first time” just before the massacre (apparently the dangerous thing that incensed the divide-and-rule British masters so much that it put the pre-planned executions at Jallianwala Bagh into motion, according to the film). Now, where have we heard the phrase “freedom of speech” before? Both Indian and British attorneys blow the horn for it. And will it be able to make money again?
With its opening disclaimer that reads, “though inspired by true events, it is a work of pure fiction,” Dharma Productions and Adar Poonawala’s Kesari 2 is a film of its time, for its time, unravelling a painful chapter of our past with heaps of patriotic, explanatory passion.
