Latest news with #TheCaseThatShooktheEmpire
Indian Express
07-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
Even as Akshay Kumar's Kesari Chapter 2 shows an imagined past, it ends up confronting the present
If anything has come close to capturing the horrors of Jallianwala Bagh, it is the final thirty minutes of Sardar Udham. Shoojit Sircar's version is intimate, visceral, unlike anything Hindi cinema has attempted before. Mind you, it is not a recreation but a reckoning. The violence isn't staged; it unfolds. You're not watching from a distance; you're placed within the frame of 13 April 1919, as if history bleeds into the present. There's Vicky Kaushal, who delivers one of the most physical performances in recent memory, and DOP Avik Mukhopadhyay's camera, which too seems to be grieving. But at the heart of it all is Sircar's gaze — almost journalistic in how it observes, almost elegiac in how it refuses to look away. Now, when you watch Karan Singh Tyagi's rendition in the newly released Kesari: Chapter 2, the depiction feels comparatively dated. The problem isn't the mainstream gaze; it's the tiredness of the form. There's a clear effort, like Sircar, to personalise the moment through the eyes of a young boy, but the impact is dulled by the choices around it. The cuts are rushed, the score overwrought, the slow-motion indulgent. What could have been genuinely affecting is lost to noise. What unsettles more is its distorted sense of the past. Or more accurately, an imagined one. Kesari: Chapter 2, as the credits state reads, is based on the book, The Case That Shook the Empire by Raghu Palat and Pushpa Palat. Yet the story it chooses to tell is neither part of the book, nor of the historical record. The film fabricates a trial where Sir Sankaran Nair (Akshay Kumar), a prominent lawyer of his time, takes on the British Empire — specifically Brigadier General Reginald Dyer — for the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. There's no crime in blending fact with fiction. History, at times, invites interpretation. But when a film claims to be based on a real account and then veers into invention, it becomes something else entirely. Not a reimagining, but a rewriting. For argument's sake, one might call it creative liberty or a loose adaptation. But there's a difference between bending the truth and inventing your own. If you anchor a story to a book, you must be prepared for the weight of that choice; for the questions it demands, and the responsibility it brings. In reality, Nair never fought a legal battle with Dyer. His conflict was with Sir Michael O'Dwyer, the former Lieutenant Governor of Punjab and one of the key architects behind the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. O'Dwyer appears just once in the film. The blame is placed squarely on Dyer, painted in broad, villainous strokes (with a hint of backstory thrown in, perhaps, for a touch of nuance). The choice is puzzling. Maybe it's because Dyer is the more familiar name, easier to centre a story around. What's clear is this: for a film that insists on the importance of remembering the truth, that calls out the erasures of colonial history, to then offer its own version of revision feels… confounding. View this post on Instagram Shared post on Time Perhaps they could've simply called it historical fiction. Instead, it's positioned and marketed as a historical legal drama, with the entire second half devoted to courtroom theatrics. But even if one sets aside questions of authenticity, the trial itself plays out in broad strokes: predictable and familiar. R. Madhavan, as Adv. Neville McKinley, representing the crown, is positioned as a formidable adversary to Nair. Yet, he never truly delivers a strategic blow. His arguments lack bite, his strategies fall flat. And whenever he does make a move, Nair always seems to have an ace hidden up his sleeve. What makes the courtroom portions fall apart isn't just their flatness, but the fatigue of the genre itself. We've seen it all before, from The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly to countless other iterations. And with Kumar at the centre of it — an actor who's already done this more compellingly in Jolly LLB 2 — the film begins to resemble less a piece of history, and more a franchise. This is not to say that Kumar's casting feels misplaced. If anything, it's what adds a necessary layer to the film. There's something about the arc of Nair — and the way Kumar plays him — that speaks less about history and more about the present. For most of the first half, Nair is shown as a British loyalist. His first scene has him labelling an Indian revolutionary poet a terrorist. He dines with the Empire. He's knighted by the Crown. It's only when the massacre unfolds that something changes. His certainties crack. What follows is the story of a man confronting the system he once stood by. On paper, it's a conventional arc. But with Kumar in the role, it becomes harder to ignore the subtext. For over a decade now, he's been seen as an actor closely aligned with the establishment: endorsing its leaders, echoing its slogans. Which is why watching him, for much of the first half, play a man who slowly begins to question his silences, his allegiance feels charged with some meaning. It's a clever piece of casting not because it flatters him, but because it implicates him. Given the state of mainstream Hindi cinema today, it means something when a film's leading man goes on a spree — invoking free speech, the right to protest, the right to hold power accountable. It means something when that very man stands up for a Muslim civilian crushed by a draconian ruler. It means something when that very film dares to question the violence unleashed on dissent, when it wonders aloud how easily revolutionaries are branded as terrorists. Historically, it may not be an authentic rendering of colonial India's complexities, but its subtext speaks of naya Bharat.
Hindustan Times
28-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
‘He is unbothered': Dharmendra gives desi dad vibes as he celebrates ‘Jaat beating Kesari Chapter 2 at box office'
Sunny Deol and Randeep Hooda's Jaat released in theatres on April 10 and opened to mixed reviews from the audience. The film faced competition at the box office after Akshay Kumar and R Madhavan's Kesari Chapter 2 released just a week later. Kesari Chapter 2 has been having a dream run at the box office. Amidst this, Dharmendra shared a post saying 'Jaat beats Kesari Chapter 2' at the box office, and Reddit thinks he is giving off desi father vibes. (Also Read: Sunny Deol recalls big production houses hesitating to work with him, Dharmendra: 'hum log darte nahin') A Reddit user shared a screenshot of veteran actor Dharmendra's Instagram story wherein he had shared a post from a news portal, the headline of which read, "Sunny Deol's Jaat beats Akshay Kumar's Kesari Chapter 2 at the box office." Sharing the post, the Reddit user wrote, "Dharam ji's story on Insta. He is unbothered." Reddit users were quick to react. One of them wrote, "Dharam ji is giving desi Dad vibe." Another commented, "Pookie dad." Another wrote, "I mean, at that age, no one should give a f**k and just support their kids." Another wrote, "Can never get mad at a desi dad hyping his son. Go Dharam and Sunny Paaji!" However, a Reddit user also criticised Dharmendra for the story and wrote, "Openly petty." Sunny Deol and Randeep Hooda's Jaat opened to decent numbers, collecting ₹9.5 crore at the box office. In 17 days, the film has collected ₹111.75 crore worldwide and ₹82.9 crore at the domestic box office. Akshay Kumar's Kesari Chapter 2, on the other hand, earned ₹7.75 crore on day one, and now, after 10 days, the film's domestic box office collection stands at ₹65.45 crore. The worldwide box office collection till day nine, as per Sacnilk, is ₹93.50 crore. The film's worldwide collection as of day 10 is yet to be revealed. While Jaat did have more domestic collection ( ₹69.40 crore) than Kesari Chapter 2 on day 10, Akshay's film is performing better worldwide. While Jaat is a fictional story revolving around a mysterious passenger whose obsessive demand for an apology brings him face-to-face with a ruthless labourer-turned-crime boss, resulting in a battle between the two, Kesari Chapter 2 is a historical courtroom drama based on the book The Case That Shook the Empire by Raghu Palat and Pushpa Palat. It revolves around C. Sankaran Nair, who fought a legal battle against the British to uncover the truth behind the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre.
Mint
27-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Mint
Shashi Tharoor reviews Kesari 2: ‘C Sankaran Nair would never use four-letter word Akshay Kumar uses'
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor became the latest political personality to watch Akshay Kumar's Kesari Chapter 2. After watching the film, Tharoor praised the film team in a lengthy review. Based on his experience he said he would recommend people across the country to watch it. However, he also pointed out some historical inaccuracy and said C Sankaran Nair would never use the words Akshay Kumar used in the film. Shashi Tharoor praised the film for sending across a strong message. He said, "I thought it was an amazingly well-made, well-crafted film. It took some liberties with historical fact, but it says at the very beginning it's fiction. But what it did was capture the spirit of resistance, especially using the instruments of the British court system. You can't win in the end, and we sadly waited 28 years after Jallianwala Bagh to become free. But the message of the film was brilliantly done." 'I must say, as usual, in a very high-quality production--the acting, the direction, the way the story unfolded, everything was just so compelling. There wasn't one dull moment. I was worried that for many people, just seeing courtroom scenes might not be so compelling. But the way the story came out, I think it was impossible to turn your eye away for one second, very well done,' he added. Kesari 2 is based on the book, The Case That Shook the Empire by Raghu Palat and Pushpa Palat, focusing on C. Sankaran Nair and the aftermath of the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre. In the film, Akshay Kumar essays the role of C. Sankaran Nair. Talking about Nair, Tharoor said, "He (C Sankaran Nair) was a man of courage, principle, and integrity. He would never use the words Akshay Kumar uses, particularly a certain four-letter word, would never have come out of him, I can tell you that for sure. But the spirit, the message, the clever way in which the message was allowed to come across was extremely well done." "At the end of the film, they made the point on the screen that the one thing that the British have never done is say sorry." 'This film is a reminder that apology is still due,' he further emphasised and urged people to watch it. 'I certainly would not hesitate to recommend this film,' Tharoor said. Kesari Chapter 2 is currently ruling the box office. It also stars R Madhavan and Ananya Panday. First Published: 27 Apr 2025, 02:43 PM IST
India Today
27-04-2025
- Entertainment
- India Today
Woh gussa fir se jaaga hai: Akshay Kumar on Pahalgam attack at Kesari 2 screening
Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar attended a screening of his latest film, 'Kesari Chapter 2', in Mumbai on Saturday. The event was marked by his address to the audience, where he expressed his condemnation of the recent terror attack in Pahalgam. Joined by co-star Madhavan, Akshay highlighted the anger felt by many, drawing parallels with his character's emotions in the film. advertisementSpeaking to the audience, Akshay Kumar said, 'Unfortunately aaj bhi humare sab ke dil mein woh gussa phir se jaga hain. Aap sab log achchi tarah se jaante he main kis cheez ki baat kar raha hoon. Aaj bhi hum un terrorists o ko ek hi baat kehna chahenge. Jo maine iss film mein kahi he, kya (Even today we are feeling the same anger all over again. All of you know exactly what I am talking about. Today also I want to say the same few words to the terrorists which I have said in the film. What)?'#WATCH | Mumbai, Maharashtra: During the promotion of his upcoming film 'Kesari Chapter 2', actor Akshay Kumar spoke on #PahalgamTerroristAttackHe said, " ...Unfortunately, that anger in hearts has awakened again. You all know what I am talking about. Today also, we only have ANI (@ANI) April 26, 2025advertisementThe audience responded to his prompt by echoing a dialogue from the movie - "F*** you." The Pahalgam terror attack, which occurred on Tuesday, resulted in the tragic loss of 26 live. The attack took place in Baisaran valley, a popular tourist spot. In response to the incident, Akshay Kumar had previously expressed his horror on social media, condemning the act and offering prayers for the victims' film, 'Kesari Chapter 2', is based on the book 'The Case That Shook the Empire' by Raghu Palat and Pushpa Palat. It revolves around C Sankaran Nair's fight against the British Raj to uncover the truth about the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. Akshay portrays the role of Nair, a lawyer and a significant historical InMust Watch
NDTV
27-04-2025
- Entertainment
- NDTV
Akshay Kumar Reacts To Pahalgam Terror Attack At Kesari 2 Screening: " Woh Gussa Phir Se Jaga Hai"
Quick Take Summary is AI generated, newsroom reviewed. Akshay Kumar attended a screening of his film Kesari 2 in Mumbai. Co-star R Madhavan joined him at the special screening event. He addressed the Pahalgam terror attack, expressing shared public anger. New Delhi: Akshay Kumar attended a special screening of his latest film Kesari 2on Saturday. The actor was joined by co-star R Madhavan at the screening. Reacting to the Pahalgam terror attack, Akshay echoed the sentiment of the public, saying, the terror attack gave birth to the same kind of anger that his character felt in the film. Akshay took the mic and addressed the audience, "Unfortunately aaj bhi humare sab ke dil mein woh gussa phir se jaga hain. Aap sab log achchi tarah se jaante he main kis cheez ki baat kar raha hoon. Aaj bhi hum un terrorists o ko ek hi baat kehna chahenge. Jo maine iss film mein kahi he, kya (Even today we are feeling the same anger all over again. All of you know exactly what I am talking about. Today also I want to say the same few words to the terrorists which I have said in the film. What)?" Taking a cue from his character's dialogue, the audience said in unison, "F*** you." Earlier, Akshay Kumar reacted to the terror attack on X. He wrote, "Horrified to know of the terror attack on tourists in Pahalgam. Sheer evil to kill innocent people like this. Prayers for their families." Kesari Chapter 2 is based on the book The Case That Shook the Empire by Raghu Palat and Pushpa Palat. Akshay Kumar portrays the role of real-life character C Sankaran Nair, a lawyer who fights against the British regime to uncover the truth about the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. On April 22, at least 26 civilians were gunned down by the terrorists in the Baisaran meadow of Pahalgam. This was one of the deadliest attacks in recent time, causing a deep jolt to the state's tourism industry.
