Film: Kesari 2: The Untold Story of Jallianwala Bagh
Cast: Akshay Kumar, R. Madhavan, Ananya Pandey
Directed by: Karan Singh Tyagi
Duration: 2 hours 15 minutes
Rating: * * 1 / 2
Barring the title and the fact that both films are about patriotism, Kesari 2 has no connection with its predecessor. Directed by Karan Singh Tyagi, this film, titled The Untold Story of Jallianwala Bagh, is indeed a patriotic narrative; however, its central storyline, which revolves around a courtroom drama, is fictional. The inspiration for this film comes from the book 'The Case That Shook the Empire' by Raghu Palat, who is the great-grandson of Sir Sankaran Nair. Nair, a prominent lawyer and freedom fighter of his era, serves as the film's main character.
It is important to clarify the historical context before delving into the fictional elements, from our school history lessons we know that in April 1919, General Reginald Dyer opened fire on a gathering of men, women, and children at Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar, leading to the deaths of thousands of innocent individuals. Dyer passed away in 1927 without facing justice for his actions. In 1940, Michael O'Dwyer, the then Lieutenant Governor of Punjab, was assassinated by Udham Singh in London. In 1922, O'Dwyer initiated a defamation lawsuit against Sankaran Nair concerning his book Gandhi and Anarchy. Although the case was related to the massacre, General Dyer did not appear in court; the film though suggests that Nair had sued the British crown, with Dyer being involved in the proceedings.
The film wastes no time in cutting to the chase and at 135 minutes, it is crisply edited. The opening scene shows a gathering at Jallianwala Bagh protesting against the Rowlatt Act, followed shortly by General Dyer (played by Simon Paisley Day) ordering his troops to fire on the crowd. A dramatic element is introduced when a teenage boy becomes separated from his mother and younger sister who are caught in the melee.
We are then introduced to Sankaran Nair (Akshay Kumar) a bright legal mind who fights cases on behalf of the Empire - it is a matter of time before he has a change of heart. Ananya Pandey plays Dilreet Gill, an budding lawyer who initiates a fight against the British government in court, before Nair joins her and takes centre stage. "Court mein sahi galat ka nahi, haar jeet ka faisla hota hain" (the courts don't decide right or wrong, they decide the winner and the loser), Nair asserts, more than once.
To be fair, the courtroom drama is predictable but engaging. The Crown ropes in Adv. Neville McKinley (R.Madhavan), to take on Nair and their fiery exchanges are entertaining. The narrative arc unfolds as expected- when the protagonist is on the verge of losing the court battle, the judge says "court aapko do din ka waqt deti hain" (the court gives you two days) to find the evidence. We also gain insight into Dyer's transformation into a cruel figure, attributed to his experiences of being bullied by Indian children during his school years, though I am not sure of the accuracy of this backstory.
As the courtroom drama is fictional, the writers had considerable creative freedom to enhance the tension. It also has some rousing dialogues to add value to some of the scenes. It must also be mentioned here that never before have I seen so many F-bombs being dropped in a Hindi film. At this rate, Samuel Jackson might have competition soon.
On the downside, the unnecessary wailing in the background score during a sad scene is rather jarring - Hindi films still haven't quite discovered the magic of silence on screen.
Ananya Pandey has to play second fiddle in most parts and she fares well. R. Madhavan clearly seems to relish the role of the antagonist. The British actors like Simon Paisley Day who plays Dyer, are slightly handicapped with the Hindi that they have to speak. In the spate of films in recent times, this performance by Akshay Kumar is a notch above his other roles.