Kesari Chapter 2: The Untold Story of Jallianwala Bagh sets out with the noble intention of narrating one of the most significant, yet lesser-known, episodes of India’s freedom struggle. While it succeeds in mounting an intense legal drama and framing it in visually impressive sequences, it ultimately falters in delivering a nuanced portrayal of history.
A Star-Driven Legal Battle
The film focuses on the courageous legal battle fought by Sir Chettur Sankaran Nair, a Malayali lawyer and statesman, against the British Crown in the aftermath of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre of 1919. His aim: to bring General Reginald Dyer to justice for orchestrating the massacre.
Akshay Kumar plays the lead role, lending his star power to a film that consciously avoids mainstream commercial tropes. However, his presence is also where the film begins to wobble. Akshay is miscast in a role that demands cultural authenticity and deep-rooted emotional expression. Despite his efforts to inject gravitas, he neither sounds nor behaves like the refined, multilingual statesman he portrays.
A Surface-Level Exploration of Culture and History
The film references Sankaran Nair’s proficiency in traditional art forms like kalaripayattu and Kathakali, but these details are never integrated meaningfully into the story or character arc. Instead, they remain as throwaway mentions, pointing to a superficial engagement with cultural elements. This half-hearted cultural framing undermines the richness and complexity of the character and the history he is part of.
The screenplay by Karan Singh Tyagi and Amritpal Singh Bindra focuses almost entirely on courtroom drama, neglecting broader historical contexts. The freedom movement in Punjab, the implications of the Rowlatt Act, and Sankaran Nair’s contributions as a Congress leader are barely touched upon.
From Empire Loyalist to National Hero – An Unconvincing Transition
The film opens by showing Nair enjoying British hospitality and even sending a revolutionary poet to jail. His transformation from a passive observer to a passionate patriot feels sudden and contrived. A tragic incident and a discriminatory signboard (“Dogs and Indians not allowed”) are all it takes to change his heart. While dramatic, the shift lacks depth and psychological weight.
Ananya Panday plays Dilreet Gill, a young lawyer inspired by Nair. Her character is intended to catalyze Nair’s transformation, but the script never fully explains why someone committed to nationalism would admire a man still entangled with the Raj.
R. Madhavan Shines in the Second Half
R. Madhavan, as Neville Mckinley, a disillusioned Anglo-Indian lawyer, is introduced in the second half. His entry adds intrigue and intensity, but he is never given enough scope to match Akshay’s prominence. His character serves more as a narrative foil than a fully developed persona.
Amit Sial as Tirath Singh – an adviser to Punjab’s Lieutenant Governor Michael O’Dwyer – appears frequently, but his character remains a cipher, never evolving into someone the audience can understand or empathize with.
Missed Opportunities for Emotional and Historical Impact
Despite dramatizing key moments with style, Kesari Chapter 2 falls short of delivering sustained emotional highs. The courtroom showdown, though well-shot, feels inevitable and predictable. We know where the film is heading, which diminishes its suspense and power.
A standout subplot features a 13-year-old massacre survivor, Pargat Singh (Krish Rao), who seeks justice for his slain family. His early confrontations with Sankaran Nair are emotionally resonant and one of the few compelling parts of the film. However, these moments are fleeting.
Superficial Allusions to Present-Day Parallels
The film attempts to draw parallels between colonial-era suppression and modern-day realities – media control, legal manipulation, and narrative spin – but these themes are mentioned in passing and never developed into substantial commentary.
Sankaran Nair’s assertion that courts decide not between “right and wrong” but between “victory and defeat” could have been a powerful motif. Unfortunately, the film doesn’t follow through on such thought-provoking lines.
Colonial Characters Reduced to Stereotypes
Foreign actors playing British characters, including Simon Paisley Day (General Dyer) and Mark Bennington (Lt. Governor O’Dwyer), are burdened with lengthy Hindi dialogues and stilted performances. Their characters remain flat, defined more by their accents and stiff demeanor than by any psychological complexity.
Final Verdict: Style Without Substance
In the end, Kesari Chapter 2 is a star vehicle dressed up as a historical drama. Akshay Kumar, while clearly dedicated, is not the right fit for this culturally rooted role. The film skirts around the deeper layers of its subject matter and misses out on presenting a rich, informative exploration of the era.
Yes, the film has moments of emotional resonance, a visually grand design, and courtroom flair. But it never quite escapes the trappings of Bollywood formula – particularly in how it simplifies complex historical figures and events for cinematic convenience.
The untold story of Sankaran Nair deserves more rigour, cultural fidelity, and emotional authenticity than what Kesari Chapter 2 offers. For viewers seeking a stirring historical drama, this film might feel more like a missed opportunity than a revelation.
