The new Bollywood movie Kesari 2 has released its strong trailer, bringing to light a chilling page of India’s colonial past. Based in the wake of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, the movie is a thrilling courtroom drama revolving around the quest for justice against British colonial brutality. Helmed by Karan Singh Tyagi and produced under Karan Johar’s lofty banner, the film is a sequel to 2019’s patriotic blockbuster Kesari, which saw Akshay Kumar in a heroic story of sacrifice and courage.

In Kesari 2, Akshay Kumar comes back on screen with a gripping role as lawyer C. Sun Karan, a principled and determined Indian lawyer who brings the British Empire to court in order to gain justice for the innocent lives that were lost in the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. The story goes deep into his tireless legal battles, pointing out the moral and emotional hurdles of confronting an empire that acted with impunity.

Standing in his way in the courtroom is R. Madhavan as a tough and authoritative British government attorney who argues in favor of the colonial administration’s actions, creating a thrilling legal battle. The film also features Ananya Panday in a significant role as a young and zealous attorney who joins Kumar’s character in the battle, providing an additional emotional depth to the narrative.

The brutality of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre is not avoided by the film. It includes some very effective flashbacks that bring back the gory day of April 13, 1919, when several thousand men, women, and children had assembled in Amritsar’s Jallianwala Bagh to hold a peaceful protest against the repressive Rowlatt Act and celebrate the spring festival of Baisakhi.

There was only one single exit and no warning given, but British General Reginald Dyer gave a command to his soldiers to fire indiscriminately into the crowd. As many as 1650 bullets were reportedly fired, with hundreds killed and thousands wounded. Officially, the toll stood between 500 and 600, but a number of independent accounts put the number of deaths at over 1,000 with three times as many injured.

The massacre shocked India and ultimately proved a turning point in the Indian freedom struggle, sparking widespread outrage and opposition to British rule. The movie Kesari 2 captures this pivotal moment, employing its story not just to commemorate the victims but also to pay tribute to the strength of legal opposition and the patriotism of spirit. The narrative is conveyed with emotional profundity, historical context, and cinematic majesty in an attempt to raise awareness and introspection among contemporary viewers.

The release of the trailer has come just a week or so following the 106th anniversary of the massacre, and the movie is to release on April 18. It is to be expected that viewers will see a movie combining history, drama, and patriotism as the legacy of Kesari is continued, albeit in a different way and as an alternative interpretation of India’s struggle for justice against the British.

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