Kesari Trailer: Here's What You Need To Know About Battle of Saragarhi That Inspired This Akshay Kumar Film

Kesari, also starring Parineeti Chopra who plays Ishar Singh's wife, is scheduled to release on March 21.

Kesari New Still (Photo Credit: Instagram/Akshay Kumar)

After the 2015 film Brothers, Akshay Kumar and Karan Johar collaborate once again for this year's Holi release, Kesari. Akshay is playing a Sikh soldier in this historical war drama, that is directed by Anurag Singh. Singh is known for directing popular Punjabi films like Jatt & Juliet 1 and 2, Punjab 1984 and Super Singh. In Bollywood, he made his first film, the very underrated thriller Raqeeb, that starred Rahul Khanna, Tanushree Dutta and Sharman Joshi. Kesari, PadMan, Toilet: Akshay Kumar Loves Raising His Fist on Movie Posters – View Pics.

Kesari is inspired by the epic Battle of Saragarhi that happened in 1897. For those readers who aren't history students, this important war in the history of pre-independent India is worth remembering for being as legendary as the Battle of Thermopylae (that inspired the Zack Snyder movie 300). In a nutshell, Battle of Saragarhi is epic because 21 Sikh soldiers stood up against the might of an invading Afghani army. Talk about a real David vs Goliath story.

So in Kesari, Akshay Kumar plays Havildar Ishar Singh who leads a regiment of 21 soldiers called the 36th Sikhs for the British Indian army. They were stationed in Saragarhi which is now in present-day Pakistan. The area had seen frequent invasions from the Afghan invaders.

On that fateful day, around 10,000 Afghan troopers attacked the post. When the Indian contingent contacted the British headquarters nearby, they were told that backup forces will take time to arrive. Kesari: First Glimpses of Akshay Kumar and Parineeti Chopra Starrer Will Give you Goosebumps!

Left with no option, the small unit decided to hold on to their posts and fight the massive army. It was reported that the Afghan general even asked them to surrender but Ishar Singh and his unit didn't. They took on the invaders, first by fire-power and then by some fierce hand-to-hand fighting. Though they did their best to ward off the enemies, the Afghan army, themselves suffering losses, killed off the unit one by one. The last man standing was Sepoy Gurmukh Singh. It was said that before he got killed, he uttered the famous Punjabi war-cry 'Bole So Nihal, Sat Sri Akal!'

The Afghan army may have taken the fort after killing the 36th Sikh, but the vanquished heroes had the last laugh. They had managed to delay the invasion so much that the reinforcements arrived from the British, who took back the fort and drove the invader. In total, around 4800 men were killed in the battle.

This is the real story that has inspired the film Kesari. Now imagine how epic and emotional the movie will be. After all, we do have a connection with stories of real-life heroes being told on the big screen, especially with such an underdog vibe. Kesari, also starring Parineeti Chopra who plays Ishar Singh's wife, is scheduled to release on March 21.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 21, 2019 10:00 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).

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