Every year on 12 September the Sikh military personnel commemorate The historical Battle of Saragarhi, as Saragarhi Day, because it was on this day in 1897 the Sikh soldiers of the British Indian Army were attacked by the 10000 to 12,000 Afghans and Pashtun Orakzai tribesmen. And this British Indian contingent comprised of only 21 Jat Sikh soldiers of the 36th Sikhs (now the 4th battalion of the Sikh Regiment)who were stationed at an army post. They fought valiantly sacrificing their lives to prove that they were not cowards.
Now, a period film titled ‘Kesari’ has been released, which highlights the bravery of these 21 courageous sikh soldiers, with Akshay Kumar portraying the role of their leader –the fearless Havildar Ishar Singh. The actual battle begins in the 2nd part of the film, while the first part of this film deals with the heartless attitude of the British officers with their Sikh soldier, which results in transfer of Ishar Singh to other remote post, for not obeying their orders. But, with the presence of Akshay Kumar on the screen, director Anurag Singh has tried to generate a lots of humour into the screenplay, before the film takes off to show the actual action filled battle. Very cleverly, the director has exposed the selfish attitude of British Military officers and also the cruelty of the aggressors and their leaders with their own people.
Besides the display of gripping action filled sequences with good support from special effects team, what appeals the most is the wonderful photography captured by Anshul Chobey through his lenses. The music composed by the team of Tanishk Bagchi, Arko Pravo Mukherjee, Chirantan Bhatt, Jasbir Jassi, Gurmoh and Jasleen Royal goes well with the screenplay. But, above all, the performances of the artistes are noteworthy. Besides Akshay Kumar , good performances also come from Parineeti Chopra, Mir Sarwar, Vansh Bhardwaj, Jaspreet Singh, Vivek Saini , Vikram Kochhar and others in supporting roles.
‘Kesari’ is a well presented action –war based period film on a real happening in Indian history , which certainly leaves a strong impact on the audience. If you are used to watching bloodshed on the screen, this is certainly a worth watch film; as there is a lot of violence noticed in the concluding part.
Rating ( ***1/2)