Shashi Tharoor hails Akshay Kumar starrer Kesari Chapter 2 as “well-crafted”: “Message of the film was brilliantly done”

April 28, 2025 - 3:37 PM IST

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has lauded Bollywood star Akshay Kumar’s latest film, Kesari Chapter 2: The Untold Story of Jallianwala Bagh, calling it an “amazingly well-made, well-crafted film” that brilliantly captures the spirit of resistance against British colonial rule. In a media interaction, the Thiruvananthapuram parliamentarian praised the historical courtroom drama but noted its use of modern dialogue, particularly a four-letter expletive, which he felt was out of character for the real-life figure, C. Sankaran Nair.

Shashi Tharoor hails Akshay Kumar starrer Kesari Chapter 2 as “well-crafted”: “Message of the film was brilliantly done”

Tharoor’s Admiration for Kesari Chapter 2’s Craftsmanship

Tharoor, a long-time admirer of C. Sankaran Nair, expressed admiration for the film’s high-quality production and compelling storytelling. “I thought it was an amazingly well-made, well-crafted film. It took some liberties with historical fact, but it says at the very beginning it’s fiction. But what it did was capture the spirit of resistance, especially using the instruments of the British court system. You can’t win in the end, and we sadly waited 28 years after Jallianwala Bagh to become free. But the message of the film was brilliantly done,” he said. He highlighted the acting, direction, and narrative flow, noting, “There wasn’t one dull moment.”

Shashi Tharoor REACTS to Akshay Kumar saying “Fk you” in Kesari Chapter 2**

While Tharoor celebrated the film’s portrayal of Nair’s courage, he humorously pointed out a historical inaccuracy in Akshay Kumar’s dialogue. “He was a man of courage, principle, and integrity. He would never use the words Akshay Kumar uses, particularly a certain four-letter word; it would never have come out of him, I can tell you that for sure. But the spirit, the message, and the clever way in which the message was allowed to come across were extremely well done,” he remarked.

A Call for Historical Recognition

Tharoor further stated the film’s broader significance. He noted that it reminds audiences of the British Empire’s unacknowledged atrocities, particularly the lack of an official apology for the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre. “At the end of the film, they made the point on the screen that the one thing the British have never done is say sorry,” he said, urging both Indian and English audiences to watch the film with subtitles.

Directed by Karan Singh Tyagi and produced by Dharma Productions, Kesari Chapter 2 stars Akshay Kumar as C. Sankaran Nair, with R. Madhavan, Ananya Panday, and Regina Cassandra in key roles. The film is based on The Case That Shook The Empire by Raghu and Pushpa Palat.

Also Read: Kesari Chapter 2 Box Office: Akshay Kumar starrer peaks further on Sunday, will again have stable weekdays