In ‘Kesari 2’, I’m not acting as an artist, but as an Indian: Akshay Kumar

The film stars Akshay Kumar, R Madhavan and Ananya Panday. It was released on 18 April 2025, marking the 106th anniversary of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre

Mumbai: As “Kesari Chapter 2” released on Friday, actor Akshay Kumar said that he’s not merely acting as an artist, but as an Indian in the film.

Akshay took to Instagram, where he shared a few stills from the film, which also stars Ananya Panday and R Madhavan.

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For the caption, he wrote in Hindi: “Kahaniyaan bahut suni hongi aapne par yah ek toofaan hai. C Shankaran Nayar ki is kahani ne mujhe jhajhkoor diya kyunki hum nahin jaante the ki Jallianwala Bagh narsanhar ke baad kisi ek vyakti ne poore British ampayar ko adalat mein ghaseet kar ghutnon par la diya tha.”

“(You must have heard many stories, but this one is a storm. C Sankaran Nair’s story shook me because we didn’t know that after the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, one man dragged the entire British Empire to court and brought them to their knees..)”

“Kesari Chapter 2 film mein sirf ek kalakaar ki haisiyat se nahin balki ek Bharatiya ke taur par kar raha hoon. Yah sirf ek film nahin… yah ek adhoora hisaab hai, yah ek dardnaak yaad hai… aur aakhirkaar — yah insaaf hai. Kesari Chapter 2 ab aapke nazdeeki cinema gharon mein.”

“(In the film Kesari Chapter 2, I am not acting merely as an artist, but as an Indian. This is not just a film… this is an unfinished account, this is a painful memory… and finally — this is justice. Kesari Chapter 2 — now in your nearby cinemas.)”

“Kesari Chapter 2: The Untold Story of Jallianwala Bagh” is directed by Karan Singh Tyagi and produced by Dharma Productions, Leo Media Collective, and Cape of Good Films.

The film is a spiritual sequel to Kesari in 2019, the plot is based on the book The Case That Shook The Empire by Raghu Palat and Pushpa Palat, centred around C Sankaran Nair and the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre.

The film stars Akshay Kumar, R Madhavan and Ananya Panday. It was released on 18 April 2025, marking the 106th anniversary of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.

The first installment of “Kesari” was headlined by Akshay. Directed by Anurag Singh, it follows the events leading to the Battle of Saragarhi, a battle between 21 Sikh soldiers of the 36th Sikh Regiment of the British Indian Army and 10,000 Afridi and Orakzai Pashtun tribesmen in 1897.

Ahead of the release of the film, Akshay, Ananya visited the Golden Temple and Jallianwala Bagh on April 14 to remember martyrs.