New Delhi: 

Much was expected of Kesari Chapter 2, and little was left undelivered. Directed with sharp focus by debutant director Karan Singh Tyagi and brought to life by Akshay Kumar’s quietly forceful performance, the latest Dharma film was positioned as a righteous roar. One that refuses to be quietened even after 106 years.

Kesari Chapter 2: Performances:

Akshay Kumar’s portrayal of Nair was less a star turn and more a carefully measured essay in restraint and fury. His courtroom monologues were simmering beneath a poised exterior.

He delivered not with the flair of a performer but the desperation of a man morally cornered. The climax, especially, was one of Akshay’s finest. His anger is quiet, and the grief loud enough to shake the Crown.

WTF: Where’s The Flaw?

Kesari 2’s courtroom exchanges, though potent, are written with a theatrical flair that borders on melodrama. The emotional arc of certain characters, especially Ananya Panday’s Dilreet Gill, feels underdeveloped, leaving little room for a more textured portrayal.

The first half of the film is sombre and isn’t extravagant, sans the genocide sequence. The editing could have been sharper—certain scenes linger longer than needed, while others are rushed through.

It is rather funny that Akshay Kumar’s conviction and the strong dialogues carried the film more than the music. The background score is forgettable and fails to run parallel with the pace of Kesari 2.

Kesari Chapter 2 verdict:

The direction by Karan Singh Tyagi ensured the second-half syndrome was nowhere to be found. Tension was sustained, and emotional peaks were strategically scattered. The runtime of 2 hours and 15 minutes felt deserved, not indulgent. But this was not a film that asked for tears. It asked for anger.

The kind of anger that wakes, questions, and demands. The kind of anger that refuses to be pacified with symbolic gestures.

The screenplay, co-written by Karan and Amritpal Singh Bindra, avoided sentimentality. Instead, it was designed to provoke, to educate, and to ignite.

Dialogues penned by Sumit Saxena were delivered not with melodrama, but with the weight of lived truth—none more so than when Akshay’s character declared, “The empire is shrinking.”

By the end, one wasn’t left admiring the film’s cinematography or courtroom drama tropes. One was left staring down the hollow legacy of a 200-year-long colonial rule.

The Brits should watch it because they still haven’t uttered that one simple word—Sorry.

Ananya Panday’s Dilreet Gill, playing a young lawyer in a man’s world, didn’t strive to match the senior cast’s firepower but lent a much-needed quiet resolve to the otherwise charged narrative.

Her role could have been fleshed out more emotionally, yet it served its purpose without overwhelming the core arc.

R Madhavan, as the British-appointed defence lawyer, Neville McKinley, stood firm, never allowing the film’s nationalist overtones to flatten his nuanced portrayal.

More than a villain, he was made believable, which was far more dangerous and brought a steely calm to his character.

Set against the haunting backdrop of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, the plot was crafted around C Sankaran Nair (Akshay Kumar), whose belief in justice over allegiance was tested when entrusted with investigating the very atrocity committed by the Crown.

The genocide was shown with a harrowing restraint in the opening minutes and wasn’t dramatised for cheap thrills. It was presented as a raw, unfiltered wound in history, allowed to bleed on screen just long enough to make one squirm with silent rage.

What followed was not just a court case, but a reckoning. The British were cornered, exposed and made to squirm in their own tailored arrogance.

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