It’s coming on Thursday, February 21. The much-anticipated trailer of Akshay Kumar’s first big-ticket film of 2019 – the Anurag Singh-directed period war drama Kesari. The film is based on the Battle of Saragarhi that was fought on September 12, 1897, between 21 brave Sikh soldiers of the British Indian Army’s 36th Sikh Regiment and 10,000 invading Pashtun Orakzal tribesmen from the North-West Frontier Province.
Akshay plays Havildar Ishar Singh who inspires the 20 other Sikh soldiers to fight to the death and defend their army post from the Afghans in what is considered one of history’s greatest last-stands. The battle is commemorated on September 12 every year as Saragarhi Day by military personnel. Shooting for Kesari, which is produced by Dharma Productions, Cape of Good Films, Azure Entertainment and Zee Studios, began in January 2018 at Wai in Satara district. The lavishly mounted set meant to resemble an embattled fort caught fire and subsequently the shoot of Kesari was completed by Akshay and his female lead Parineeti Chopra at Film City in Mumbai.
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A still of Akshay Kumar from his upcoming film Kesari[/caption]
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When they announced the film in October 2017, co-producers Karan Johar and Akshay Kumar went on social media to talk about Kesari. “I’m extremely excited to see this exceptional and brave story unfold,” said Dharma boss man KJo. While Akshay, who shaved his head so as to wear the heavy turban of the Sikh warrior and shared his look, said, “It’s a film I’m excited about personally and emotionally.” Both the Bollywood giants, who earlier collaborated on the film Brothers in 2015, promised that Kesari would release on Holi 2019. The date is fast approaching. Holi falls on Thursday, March 21, and exactly a month earlier Akshay and KJo are ready with the trailer of Kesari after teasing fans with first looks and posters so long.
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File photo of Karan Johar and Akshay Kumar[/caption]
