A Courtroom Clash That Shook an Empire
Little needs to be said about the multifaceted legal and sociocultural horror that Jallianwala Bagh masacre is for India’s historiography. This new installment continues to show India as an emerging superpower in the 21st century. The movie comes out on the 106th anniversary of the horrific incident, April 18th 2025, directed by Karan Singh Tyagi, who also directed Kesari the prior 2016 release, starring Akshay Kumar playing the lead. The film is also based on the non-fiction book The Case That Shook The Empire by Rashu Palat and Pushpa Palat. This time, attention shifts from military drudgery to the bloodless battle of a courtroom.
The untold story of Jallianwala Bagh dives into the story of C. Sankaran Nair, an Indian barrister and brave reformist. He audaciously even withstood the British Empire legally. So the plot features the aftermath of the mass murder in Jalianwala Bagh 1919. What stems out of this is an emotional and patriotic powered war with which is morally janus faced against vanity and sheer self delusional propaganda of empire.
✨ CAST & CHARACTERS – Voices of Resistance, Agents of Change
⭐ Akshay Kumar portrays Justice C. Sankaran Nair
Nair forms the emotional center of the film, being a Vice-Council Nair with C rank. He is also in charge of leading an investigation into the gruesome carnage. Nair resigns from the post when the truth turns out to be unspeakable, and the British try to cover-up the incident. This prompts him to file a legally unprecedented case against the crown. His principles, astounding intelligence, and undeniable merciless quest of justice drives the film.
⭐ R. Madhavan as Advocate Neville McKinley
The character is an Anglo-Indian with a sharp tongue, who happens to also be McKinley’s advocate. He is selected by the British to represent them in the court and has his emotional issues. Still, McKinley manages to bring eloquent depth as a foil to Nair, firing up these two to fire up the dramatic duels in the courtroom.
⭐ Ananya Panday as Dilreet Gill
While still an undergraduate, Gill is a UK-based law student as well a member of Nair’s team. Gill epitomizes the conviction of the younger generations willing to face the consequences of historical wrongdoing and innovate the future. However, her idealism is rooted in the reality of the legal profession, and this makes her journey powerful.
Supporting Cast:
Regina Cassandra portrays Parvathy Nair, Sankaran’s devoted wife, and emotional support system.
The film captures Simon Paisley Day as General Reginald Dyer, ‘the Man Behind the Massacre’, whose cold detachment is a chilling presence in the film.
Mark Bennington as Michael O’Dwyer, the Lieutenant Governor of Punjab, plays one of the central characters in the film who has intricate links to the massacre.
Amit Sial portrays the role of an eyewitness and a turning point for the case, Tirath Singh.
Vicky Kaushal takes the role of the narrator and adds emotional depth as well as contextual nuance to the history-altering narrative.
Amit Sial is featured as Pargat Singh,an intentionally naive and passionate young revolutionary.
📝 THE STORY – One Man’s Fight Against an Empire’s Lies
The unrestrained fire of British Inidan troops on a Gurudwara in Amritsar while the indians were peacefully gathering inside led to the Jaliwanwala Bagh massacre. The inhuman slaughter of thousands of Indians by General Dyer and his forces reduced many cities and regions in India to rubble in 1919. This is pretty much the jaw dropping back story of an one man who stands against the lying might of an entire regime.. When the British tried to cover up the tale, Justice C Sankaran Nair rose to the occasion.
Nair’s investigation into the massacre underscores the brutal nature of the event and its subsequent cover-up. Compelled to take a moral stand, he resigns from his position and brings action against the Crown before a court in London—an audacious step for an Indian in the colonial period.
Along with new freedom fighters and young legal activists, he takes on the very British who colonized and took over his country. Amidst council chambers and court rooms, under immense risk and pressure, he seeks justice for his people.
What emerges is a tale of unyielding resolve, of relentless struggle against dehumanizing systems, and of one person’s bravery that sought to shake the pillars of a chronicled civilization.
🎭 THEMES: The Truth is Never Silenced
Legal Justice: The bias depicts the legal framework as the very foundation of resistance, rebellion, and retrospective justice for all.
Imperial Authority and Defiance: Stirring Emphasis of how laws are deployed to mask violence by empires, and legally weaponized against imperialism.
Remembering and Leaving A Mark: The neglected massacre becomes a dominant and emotionally narrative rich pillar that needs acknowledging and honoring.
Courage in the Face of Power: Nair’s narrative happens to be centered around the para-psychological dimensions of defiance and personal cost, puting the spine to heroic injustice.
🎬 PRODUCTION DETAILS
- Director: Karan Singh Tyagi
- Writers: Amritpal Singh Bindra, Akshat Ghildial, Sumit Saxena
- Producers: Hiroo Yash Johar, Karan Johar, Aruna Bhatia, Adar Poonawalla, Apoorva Mehta
- Cinematography: Debojeet Ray
- Editing: Nitin Baid
- Music: Shashwat Sachdev, Kanishk Seth, Kavita Seth
- Production Studios: Dharma Productions, Leo Media Collective, Cape of Good Films
- Runtime: 135 minutes
- Language: Hindi
- Budget: ₹150 crore
- Box Office Collection: ₹61.99 crore
- Release Date: 18th April 2025
🌍 RECEPTION – A Film That Dares To Challenge
Kesari Chapter 2 garnered a lot of attention when it first debuted. As much as it was said to have captured a modern-day courtroom drama, the legal battle it set out to depict was essential in history yet sidelined. Critics argued that the film took too many creative liberties which for some, overshadowed its merits.
No one contested, however, the gripping encounters that unfolded on screen, especially the courtroom face-offs between Akshay Kumar and R. Madhavan, which were dubbed as the most intense moments in recent Indian cinema and received an overwhelmingly positive reaction from cinemagoers.
The overall emotional intensity of the film, coupled with the overly heightened perception of justice, alongside the anthropological reminder of the malady still present sorely traced in Indian psyche, created an impact that shifted the perception of audiences as well.
🧨 FINAL VERDICT
Kesari Chapter 2: The Untold Story of Jallianwala Bagh is an achingly relevant and multi-faceted exploration of law, memory, and defiance. It captures a moment in history which called for reckoning—and narrates it with empathy, valor, and grit. If you hold dearly historical realities, captivating cinema, and tales of steely determination, then this is not just a film you watch; it is history animated for you.