Kesari (2019)

Original title

केसरी

Directed by

Anurag Singh

Genre

war film, action film

Country

India

Runtime

2h 30m

Rated

15

Rating

7.1 of 10 from 126 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

In 1897, a small group of 21 Sikh soldiers in the British Indian Army fights a hopeless last stand against a vastly larger force of Pashtun tribesmen. The film follows their commander as he leads his men in the Battle of Saragarhi.

intensegrittystoicpatrioticsombervisceraldetermined

What happens

Kesari (transl. Saffron) is a 2019 Indian Hindi-language historical war film starring Akshay Kumar and directed by Anurag Singh. It follows the events leading to the Battle of Saragarhi, a battle between 21 Sikh soldiers of the 36th Sikhs Regiment of the British Indian Army and 10,000 - 12,000 Afridi and Orakzai Pashtun tribesmen in 1897. Originally conceived as a joint production between Salman Khan and Karan Johar, Kesari was officially announced in October 2017 with Akshay Kumar cast as Havildar Ishar Singh, the real-life hero of the Battle of Saragarhi. While Khan later exited the project, Kumar and Johar remained attached in their respective roles. Parineeti Chopra was eventually cast as the wife of Kumar’s character. Principal photography for the film began in January 2018 and concluded in December. The soundtrack was composed by Tanishk Bagchi, Arko Pravo Mukherjee, Chirantan Bhatt, Jasbir Jassi, Gurmoh and Jasleen Royal with lyrics written by Kumaar, Manoj Muntashir, Kunwar Juneja and Bagchi. Produced on a budget of ₹80 crore (equivalent to ₹99 crore or US$10 million in 2023), the film was distributed internationally by Zee Studios. Kesari was released in India during the Holi festival, on 21 March 2019. The film was a blockbuster at box office, grossing over ₹207 crore worldwide. The film earned six nominations at the 65th Filmfare Awards in 2020 including Best Actor for Kumar. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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