Anurag Singh’s Kesari features a proto-freedom fighter taking on a proto-Taliban force in a skirmish that is post-300. Zack Snyder’s 2006 Hollywood movie, about the battle between 300 Spartans and a vastly bigger Persian army, leaves its bloody imprint on the combat sequences in Kesari, but the legend that inspired Kesari comes from a source closer home – the Battle of Saragarhi waged between 21 Sikh soldiers and thousands of Afghan tribesman on September 12, 1897.
On paper, Kesari has everything going for it: a contest marked by remarkable valour and sacrifice, evocative locations ( Wai in Maharashtra, Lahaul-Spiti in Himachal Pradesh) that credibly recreate the site of the battle in the North-West Frontier Province in present-day Pakistan, and an estimable supporting cast. Leading man Akshay Kumar, who has leapt to the rescue in numerous films, also appears to be a shoo-in as Isher Singh, who leads the 36th Sikh Regiment to death and eternal glory.
The opening sequences bode well: Isher Singh gets involved in a skirmish with Afghan tribesmen that establishes his personal code of honour and independent spirit. His British superior Lawrence ( Edward Sonnenblick) , however, disapproves of Isher’s actions, and sends him off to head the neighbouring fort Saragarhi, where, it is said, nothing happens.
Isher arrives to find the 36th Sikh Regiment in disarray. Like a captain taking charge of an unruly cricket team, Isher licks his men into shape just in time to face the marauding Afghanis, who is led by fundamentalist cleric Saidullah ( Rakesh Chaturvedi) .
The film’s writers put a revisionist religious spin on the willingness of Isher and his men to lay down their lives for their British masters. The cleric is rebuked for invoking religion for a territorial struggle, and his kohl-lined eyes, frequent use of the word “jihad” and unremitting cruelty mark him as the movie’s villain. And yet, Isher proves to be the cleric’s mirror image, rousing his men into action in the name of Sikhism and invoking Sikh legends to remind them of their legacy