Kesari Review - A Bloodless, Overlong Drama That Spills Far Too Much Blood.

It’s poetic, I think. If you remember, on Independence Day, myself, along with many other Indian critics were scarred - there was the god awful Satyameva Jayate (2018), clashing with Reema Kagti’s flat Gold (2018). The former was bloody and gory, resorting to crushing bones instead of forming a coherent narrative. The latter was an all out Akshay Kumar vehicle, dedicated to propelling the superstar’s new nationalistic fervour. Kesari (2019) is the sickening love child of these two films, only it’s only a little better than the first and a little worse than the second.

Because, in the barren and dry Hindkush mountains, lensed stunningly by Anshul Chobey, Kesari is designed to look stunning, but director Anurag Singh, who’s successfully conveyed his talents through Diljit Dosanjh in the Punjabi film industry, doesn’t have good enough control over his narrative. These characters aren’t etched, and even though the spaces they inhabit and poignant and refined, their arcs simply aren’t. It also doesn’t work in the film’s favour, that everything related to it - right down to its title, is propaganda.

At one point, we’re told that this isn’t a fight between Afghans and Indians, more Hindus and Muslims - subtly, by a crying bystander. There’s also that infamous dialogue that reads - “Aaj meri pagdi bhi Kesari. Jo bahega mera woh lahu bhi kesari, aur mera jawab bhi kesari.” In an election year as riveting as this one, this is thinly veiled propaganda, and it just doesn’t stick. The film’s source material is crackling. The untold Battle of Saragarhi is one of bravery, valour and sheer human capacity.

Just its storyline is enough to propel the fact that what we’re going to watch is an encapsulation of pride, determination, perseverance and spirit. But in the hands of Anurag and co-writer Girish Kohli, they are bunged down by the inherent bravado of the war film. The common tropes are all present here - there’s a Sikh soldier who’s just gotten married and another with children. The writers want to manipulatively tug at your heartstrings, but after a while, the film just tires you out.

The first half, especially is flat. The story fails to move. There’s buildup and anticipation, but the tension is crafted without any care. As a result, the film never truly builds up suspense or excitement. By the time we hit interval, which is halfway through 150 minutes, the film has beat you into submission. To further the cause of the Sikh machismo, Anurag shows everybody else - the Afghans and the British - as lesser than. We get the bargain-base British ensemble, the same English actors who can bumble broken Hindi.

But the Afghans get the worse end of the deal. They aren’t unlike Alauddin Khilji’s troop from Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s underwhelming Padmaavat (2018). They’re shown as lecherous barbarians, who rape, rob, and ravish without a cause. There’s this fascinating character - the Afghan’s best shooter being rather feminine in nature, he wears nail polish and lipstick, but with the overbearing personality this film takes on, there is no place for subtlety.

And there’s only one reason why. Since 2015’s Baby, Akshay Kumar has become Bollywood’s go-to, to play nationalistic pillars of piety who rarely ever err. Even alcoholism in his hands, becomes a loveable trait. It may have worked in Airlift (2016) and Special 26 (2013), but as the quality of scripts have started deteriorating, so has Akshay’s acting. I suspect, after Padman, Kesari is the final nail in the coffin.

Don't get me wrong - he’s rather effective and rousing as the Havildar Ishar Singh, a fascinating man in history. But, because he’s painted in such broad strokes, we never get to know him. As a result, we never form a connect, and he stays just as alien as the superheroes-without-capes Kumar has come to be associated with. There’s nobody else to talk about, because the film doesn’t give any other character room to shine.

Parineeti Chopra as Jeevani Kaur is futile in the larger scheme of things. Parineeti is a fine actor with spunk and chutzpah, but I hope she starts doing roles with meatier parts and arcs for her character.

The songs, especially Sanu Kehndi, do nothing but slow down the narrative. In its second half, Kesari comes to life, but it’s so disgusting to watch, that you can’t take anymore of it. Men are impaled, sometimes three at a time, faces are broken, bones crush and in one shot, the blood is so hot that it sears and bubbles on Ishar Singh’s sword. The film enjoys shots of blood, broken bodies and raw flesh. It revels in this, and that’s what makes Kesari so unbearable to watch.

Akshay is a one-man army, quite literally, and fights hard to make this narrative stick. But after a point, Kesari becomes so inept that you start to wonder. There’s only so much an actor can do. Singh does infuse some vitality into the narrative. There are some dialogues about how the divide is reflected even in today’s India, and it pushes towards bridging those gaps. But there is far too little of this.

Perhaps then, the chest-thumping, broad-stroked variation of this battle wasn’t the way to go.