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Indian Express

Kesari Veer movie review: Sooraj Pancholi, Suniel Shetty film marred by weak plot, over-the-top performances and garish visual effects

What is worse than filmmakers latching on to a trend? The answer: Willfully undermining the audience's intelligence for the sake of making mass entertainers. How else does one explain a prolonged battle scene in Kesari Veer in which a beheaded warrior with a sword in each hand, goes on slicing his opponents before sending one of the weapons flying at an evil guy standing afar and killing him. This sequence, perhaps, would have worked in a bizzare video game. But 'Kesari Veer' is based on tragic historical events. Set in the late 14th century, the movie narrates the story of Hamirji Gohil, a brave warrior who fought against the Tughlaq empire to protect the Somnath temple. The film draws from the widely-known historical accounts that Somnath temple, located on the coastline of Saurashtra, faced multiple attacks by invaders and rulers. The temple was demolished as well as rebuilt several times in the past. The present-day Somnath temple was reconstructed following the directions of India's first Deputy Prime Minister Vallabhbhai Patel and its consecration ceremony was held in May 1951. As an homage to Hamirji Gohil, his statue was installed near the temple in 2009. Driven by the aim of piggybacking on the current trend of infusing nationalistic fervour in a cinematic narrative, Kesari Veer tries to position itself as an entertainer by weaving some historical facts, legends and myths around the Somnath temple into the screenplay. Yet, it will be futile to look for historical accuracy in this fictionalised narrative. Instead of attention to detail, the film banks heavily on gimmicks as well as tries to arouse patriotic feelings. It also relentlessly talks about veerata (bravery), which is mainly defined by masculine aggression. Small wonder Hamir (Sooraj Pancholi), who is constantly hailed for his 'veerata', is made to look fierce. He rarely gets to relax his facial muscles. The overdose of valour also indicates that a section of filmmakers are still nursing a Baahubali hangover. Hamir's love interest Rajal (Akanksha Sharma) too is presented as a 'veer' and her love language is putting a dagger on his throat when the latter is going away. The cast features Suniel Shetty, who appears as an ardent Shiv-bhakt with dreadlocks and rudraksh, and Vivek Oberoi as a ruthless Mughal attacker, who is seen holding a wine glass when not killing people. Kesari Veer movie trailer: Kesari Veer (which literally translates into 'saffron-hued warrior') is clearly influenced by the recent spate of patriotic and nationalistic tales. It tries to accentuate the nationalistic feel through dialogues when our land is referred to as 'kesariya Bharat'; by giving a saffron tint to a battle scene; or, making the Hindu warriors wear saffron-hued pagdis. The makers, however, appear lax when it comes to working on the film's entertainment quotient. The plot is wafer-thin; storytelling flat; and the performances are unnecessarily over-the-top. The film dishes out one gory action sequence after another with some family scenes or romantic encounters briefly breaking the monotony. This limits the scope of the narrative to develop the characters or add depth to them. As the storytelling remains firmly focussed on 'good versus evil' without leaving any room for nuance, the scenes become repetitive and, even, illogical. If the absence of logic does not leave the audience banging their head in frustration, then the overuse of CGI would. It almost gives the impression of certain scenes being made using AI tools. With a runtime of 161 minutes, the film becomes tiresome. Kesari Veer movie director: Prince Dhiman Kesari Veer movie cast: Suniel Shetty, Sooraj Pancholi, Vivek Oberoi, Akanksha Sharma, Barkha Bisht, Kiran Kumar, Aruna Irani Kesari Veer movie rating: 1.5 stars