The strong points of Kesari Chapter 2: The Untold Story of Jallianwala Bagh – it does have a few – are most surface level. The intense and occasionally blustery dramatization of the legal battle waged by one brave man to bring mass murderer General Reginald Dyer to justice is mounted and filmed with impressive flair. But in its deeper, defining folds, there is much that would have benefitted had more thought and rigour gone into the project.
Akshay Kumar – he is obviously in here to lend star power to a historical that largely steers clear of commercial tics – is clearly miscast as the Malayali lawyer-statesman Sir Chettur Sankaran Nair, who sued the Crown for genocide after the Jallianwala Bagh massacre of March 13, 1919 and almost single-handedly took the case to its logical conclusion.
Not that the star does not do his bit to inject gravitas into the performance and the film, but the problems that beset Kesari Chapter 2 begin with the fact that it is way too cavalier with the linguistic and behavioural characteristics of the protagonist.
By running with an actor who neither sounds like nor comes across in any other way as a man who is (as the audience is told by way of a brief introduction) proficient in both kalaripayattu and Kathakali – neither the martial art nor the classical dance form, however, contribute to the contours of the character – the film adopts a rather half-hearted way of interpreting culture and history. Nuance is beyond it.
There is, of course, a lot of history in Kesari Chapter 2 but the granularities of the freedom struggle, its manifestations in Punjab and the roles of its leaders do not find their way into the screenplay by first-time director Karan Singh Tyagi and Amritpal Singh Bindra (co-creator of Bandish Bandits).
The focus of the sluggish film is entirely on the courtroom proceedings and events surrounding the battle between Sankaran Nair, Viceroy’s Council member and barrister, and the Anglo-Indian advocate Neville Mckinley (R. Madhavan).
The latter, a jaded, alcoholic lawyer, is pulled out of the hat by the Governor Michael O’Dwyer’s adviser Tirath Singh (Amit Sial playing a character who despite being in many scenes never evolves into anybody we can wrap our heads around) when the brutal military man behind the Jallianwala Bagh massacre is in danger of falling from grace.
Barring making stray and tangential references to contemporary political realities in the province leading up to the growing popular resentment against the Rowlatt Act, the film chooses to gloss over the larger story of Sankaran Nair’s life and career. It does not even deign it fit to reveal that the barrister was a leader of the Indian National Congress and an integral part of the national movement for independence.
When we first see Sankaran Nair, we are led to believe that he is a man content to serve the British. He is not only dined and wined by the foreign rulers with his wife Parvathi (Regina Cassandra) by his side, he also sends a freedom fighter to prison by proving that the man, a poet, is a violent revolutionary.
It is not until a tragedy occurs and weighs heavy on his conscience – and an inevitable encounter with a “Dogs and Indians not allowed” board in a club opens his eyes to the slavery his countrymen are subjected to by the British – that he has a change heart, develops a spine and becomes an intrepid patriot.
A rookie lawyer Dilreet Gill (Ananya Panday), who tells Nair that she has entered the profession inspired by him, also plays a catalyst for the man’s transformation. But the film does not tell us why an aspiring lawyer wedded to the nationalistic cause would idolize somebody who has yet to demonstration any streaks of rebellion against the Raj.
Kesari Chapter 2 glosses over these finer points as it lays the ground for a final scene – it comes two hours into the film – in which Sankaran Nair gets an opportunity to prove his mettle as a counsel when all seems lost. It is all very pat and predictable.
The film does have a couple of points where it comes close to being a rousing affair but not only does it not hit the high points often enough, it also fails to stir up abiding emotions that run through the entire film like a firm thread.
Opening with the horrendous massacre that it is about, Kesari Chapter 2 homes in on one survivor, 13-year-old Pargat Singh (Krish Rao), a talented boy who fights to expose the deliberate plan behind the carnage. Even his entreaties do not move Sankaran Nair to begin with. The mild conflict between the lawyer and the young rebel is one of the film’s sharpest elements. Unfortunately, there aren’t enough such moments of friction.
To be fair, the film alludes to developments that speak to our time – suppression of the media, manipulation of narratives by those in power and the misuse of legal provisions to snuff out dissent and resistance. But these mentions are only in passing and therefore strictly peripheral.
In snatches of dialogue on more than one occasion, Sankaran Nair acknowledges that a court exists not to decide between sahi and galat, right and wrong, but between haar and jeet, defeat and victory. But when push comes to shove, he asserts that he will fight the case against the Empire come what may because he wants to transmit the truth to the entire world.
There is every reason for the audience to root for a man such as Sankaran Nair and Akshay Kumar plays the character with an eye firmly on the gallery. Yet, nothing that Kesari Chapter 2 rustles up renders the unequal face-off between oppression and courage particularly riveting. Is it because we know from the very outset how the film will end? Probably.
R. Madhavan makes his entry just before the intermission and goes on to make his presence felt strongly enough in the second half. However, the writing does not allow him to ever come anywhere near upstaging the lead actor. Ananya Panday’s role isn’t without substance. But she can only play second fiddle.
As for the non-Indian actors in the cast, including Simon Paisley Day as General Dyer and Mark Bennington as Lieutenant Governor of Punjab Michael O’Dwyer, are reduced grappling with stiffness as a result of being saddled with miles of Hindi dialogues.
As a star vehicle, Kesari Chapter 2 has some merits because the actor in question, despite not being the right man for the role, gives it all he has. As history, it is pure Bollywood. It errs on the side of superficiality.
