Akshay Kumar hopes his upcoming film Kesari 2 will cross international waters and reach a particular world leader. During a press conference for the Dharma Productions-backed courtroom drama, Kumar sat alongside producer Karan Johar and shared a heartfelt memory of a generational story he heard about the horrific Jallianwala Bagh massacre.
The 57-year-old said: "My grandfather witnessed the entire Jallianwala Bagh incident. He had told stories to my father about this, and my father told me. I have known a lot about the massacre since I was a child, so the film is very special to me. The event has been etched in my mind always... The most surprising thing was history doesn’t tell us what we actually need to know."
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The Hera Pheri actor also hopes that British monarch King Charles will watch the film and step up and apologise for the actions his forefathers committed during the British invasion of India. “I'm not here with a begging bowl to say, ‘They should say sorry’. I want them to at least watch this movie and realise the mistake. Other things will flow automatically from their mouth. The apology is bound to happen, it will flow on its own. But I want them to watch this film. I want the British government and King Charles to watch this film. They should see what happened. The rest will follow automatically."
Kesari 2 is the second instalment of the Kesari franchise which first debuted in 2019 that reiterated the Battle of Saragarhi in 1897. The second film focuses on Malayali lawyer C. Sankaran Nair who became the voice of the voiceless of the victims Jallianwala Bagh massacre and stood up against the British Crown in court.
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Kumar was immediately drawn to the story helmed and penned by Karan Singh Tyagi. “The moment I heard it, I knew I had to be part of this film. History often hides what truly matters, and this film uncovers one such powerful moment," he said.
The film, hitting theatres on April 18, also features R. Madhavan, Ananya Panday, Regina Cassandra, Simon Paisley Day, Amit Sial, Masaba Gupta, and Steven Hartley.
