Movie Review: Kesari

Kesari is an Indian historical war/action movie written and directed by Anurag Singh and released in 2019. The movie is based on the Battle of Saragarhi, a last stand battle between 21 soldiers of the 36th Sikhs of the British Indian Army and some 10,000 Pashtun tribesmen in 1897.

The movie doesn't claim to portray the battle with absolute historical accuracy. This is an action movie, not a slow-burn war drama. There are serious scenes yes, but there are a lot more scenes where people do slow-motion leaps in the air while a big "thwooooom!" sound plays. It's that kind of movie.

Havaldar Ishar Singh (Akshay Kumar) is part of a Sikh Regiment of the British Indian Army guarding the Indian-Afghan border. Despite the prevailing diplomatic arrangements, the locals are itching for a fight. One day, a local mullah tries to kill a married Afghan woman who refuses to acknowledge her forced marriage. Before they could behead her, Ishar Singh intervenes against the orders of his superior. He fights the tribesmen off, killing the woman's husband in the process. The woman is grateful but Ishar unwittingly gives the tribesmen cause to rise up against the British. For his insubordination, Ishar Singh is sent away to Saragarhi Fort, a boring place where "nothing ever happens". Gee, I wonder what could possibly go wrong.

The Battle of Saragarhi is supposedly famous in India with poems and songs written about it. It's even commemorated annually. If you're Indian, you already know how it ends. Even if you aren't, you can probably guess. It's a story of sacrifice - brave soldiers giving their lives for their country. But we can't just skip to the end. There's more to the movie than the inevitable violence.

The story is told from the perspective of Ishar Singh. He is strong, wise, fierce, and courageous. He is portrayed as a larger-than-life figure. At the beginning of the movie, the stock racist British character makes snide remarks about how Indian people are cowards. Ishar Singh proves him wrong. He bravely takes on the odds no matter how hopeless.

But the movie also depicts his softer side. During the quiet scenes of the movie, Ishar is visited by his wife, Jeevani Kaur (Parineeti Chopra). They talk, laugh, and reminisce. Of course, the wife isn't really there; she is a figment of Ishar's imagination. But the way they interact is depicted as real and genuine, that it's almost like a flashback playing in and interacting with the present. It's a strange thing but I ended up really liking it. The quirk with many Indian/Bollywood movies is that no matter how grounded the movie is, there are always occasional breaks in reality and the viewer is supposed to roll with it. That's when they put the infamous song and dance numbers Indian movies are known for. In this movie, there's a pretty cool love song between Ishar and Jeevani that's worth a listen. It's catchy.

The sets of the movie are pretty good and realistic. The uniforms of the soldiers, however, are utterly badass. They have turbans with a chakram wrapped around it. It's seriously eye-catching, especially when Ishar dons a saffron colored one. Kesari means "saffron" and it's the color of bravery. CGI rears its ugly head once in a while but it's not too distracting. But just like my Detective Dee review, there's always this one iffy scene that threatens to take the viewer out of the movie. It happens in the end when the last soldier makes his last defiant stand. Let's just say that fire effects are always tricky to pull off. Let's leave it at that.

But what about the action? The action is pleasing to watch and whenever it goes over-the-top (and it often does) it's hilariously entertaining. But there's no wackiness here, just feats of strength and daring. It avoids becoming too ridiculous and thus undermining the solemn tone of the movie.

Speaking of tone, this is a very, very patriotic movie. The movie is clearly meant to appeal to its native audience and there's plenty of red meat to go around. Unfortunately, I'm not in the target demographic so a lot of the stuff went over my head but an Indian movie about this famous battle just has to be this way. Nevertheless, as an action movie, it's still enjoyable. The theme of bravery and courage against overwhelming odds is universal. It's easy to get into and is a decent watch even if the patriotic message isn't made for you or you don't know much about the historical event.

The movie avoids portraying the villains as complete caricatures. The evil mullah does plenty of objectively bad stuff to justify his comeuppance. There is, however, this really odd villain in the movie. He's an enemy sniper and he's there to pose a serious threat to the heroes. What's strange is that he's portrayed as very flamboyant and effete. He's clean-shaven and has eyeliner and painted fingernails. Maybe that's just villain coding. Personally, I found him hilarious and I wish he had more screen time.

Overall, I recommend giving this movie a shot.