Akshay Kumar isn’t asking for an apology. He just wants the British to look back and really see what happened. With his upcoming film Kesari Chapter 2 hitting screens on April 18, the actor is urging both the UK government and King Charles to watch the film and confront a dark chapter in colonial history.
The film, directed by Karan Singh Tyagi and based on The Case That Shook the Empire by Raghu and Pushpa Palat, tells the story of C. Sankaran Nair, a Malayali lawyer who took legal action against General Dyer and the British government after the Jallianwala Bagh massacre of 1919. The massacre when British troops opened fire on a peaceful crowd remains one of the most horrific events of British rule in India.
At a recent press meet, Akshay spoke about why this film hits close to home. His grandfather witnessed the massacre, and stories of that day were passed down through his family. “I grew up hearing about Jallianwala Bagh,” he said. “But what shocked me most was how little our history books actually tell us.”
Rather than demanding a formal apology, Akshay wants the British establishment to watch the film and understand the impact of their actions. “I’m not here to beg. Just watch the movie. The truth will speak for itself. If they really see what happened, the rest maybe even an apology will come on its own.”
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The courtroom drama pits Akshay’s character, Nair, against a British legal team led by a character played by R. Madhavan. Ananya Panday steps into the role of a young Indian lawyer challenging the status quo in a male-dominated field. Together, their characters fight not only for justice, but also to reclaim the narrative.
Produced by Dharma Productions, Cape of Good Films, and Leo Media Collective, Kesari Chapter 2 challenges how past is remembered, and who gets to tell it.
Whether King Charles and his government will take up Akshay’s invitation remains to be seen. But some wounds don’t heal unless they’re acknowledged. And sometimes, it takes a film to start that conversation.
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