Cert 12A
150 mins
BBFC advice: Contains strong violence, injury detail
Being a child of the 1960s, I was brought up on the Alamo and the tale of a small band of American soldiers facing thousands of Mexicans.
Now I learn that there was an Indian equivalent of Davy Crockett, the leader of those defending the Texan fort, in the shape of Havaldar Ishar Singh.
Singh has gone down in folklore as being the leader of 21 soldiers who fought against huge numbers of Pashtuns.
The Battle of Saragarhi had echoes of the Alamo in that those defending the border fort were not convinced by their cause and were offered the chance to leave.
But they were galvanised by deciding they were not fighting for the British but the pride of Sikhs everywhere and went down in history as heroes.
This is one of Akshay Kumar's finest roles. Gone is the cheeky chappie of many of his movies, replaced by a convincing action hero.
Kumar's Ishar Singh is a man of great honour, integrity and bravery who motivates the small band of troops to fight to the death.
There is a tad of romantic interest when Singh's mind wanders back to his wife (Parineeti Chopra) but they are very brief interludes.
In the main, it concentrates on the battle.
In my view, Anurag Singh's movies have been erratic. His comedies such as Disco Singh and Jatt & Juliet 2 have been banal but Kesari has much more in common with Punjab 1984 with both gripping their audiences hard.
I would venture that the battle scenes are rather fanciful and that the reality wasn't quite as neat as the movie suggests.
Nevertheless, there no doubting the stoicism of the defenders of the fort or the effectiveness of this representation of their martyrdom.
Reasons to avoid: Overly melodramatic in parts
Laughs: One
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 8/10
Did you know? The 21 Sikh non-commissioned officers and soldiers at Battle of Saragarhi were from the Majha region of Punjab and were awarded the Indian Order Of Merit, at that time the highest gallantry award which an Indian soldier could receive.
The final word. Akshay Kumar: "A beautiful story that is in honour of “every martyr that has ever lived”, the film depicts the bravery, values and valiance of the Sikh regiment."