‘Kesari Chapter 2’ review: A historical tragedy gets the over-the-top treatment

I don’t want any theatrics, sir. But these wise words uttered by a character in Kesari Chapter 2 go unheeded.

The film’s stated agenda is to get the present-day British government to formally apologise for the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, which took place during colonial rule in 1919. To this end, Kesari Chapter 2 recruits Akshay Kumar, assembles a bunch of white actors with work permits and puts on a high-decibel show.

Karan Singh Tyagi’s film, written by him and Amritpal Singh Bindra, is adapted from The Case That Shook the Empire by Raghu Palat and Pushpa Palat. The non-fiction book explores the real-life C Sankaran Nair’s legal battles against the British in the aftermath of Jallianwala Bagh.

Kesari Chapter 2 shoots from over the shoulder of a supporter of the British Empire who becomes its staunch opponent. The lawyer Sankaran (Akshay Kumar) defends the Crown against Indian revolutionaries but is shaken by the slaughter of hundreds of unarmed protestors on the command of Brigadier Reginald Dyer (Simon Paisley Day).

Together with junior lawyer Dilreet (Ananya Panday), Sankaran puts together evidence to suggest a conspiracy behind the atrocity. Dyer engineered events to corral the protestors into a restricted space from which escape was impossible, Sankaran argues.

Applying their Divide and Rule policy to this case too, the British appoint...

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