Akshay Kumar and Parineeti Chopra have wrapped up the final schedule of Anurag Singh’s upcoming period war film, Kesari, in Jaipur. Based on the historic Battle of Saragarhi — where a contingent of 21 Sikh soldiers were attacked by 10,000 Afghans on September 2, 1897 — Kesari stars Akshay in the role of Havilder Ishwar Singh, who fought till his death to protect the North-West Frontier Province of British India. Parineeti Chopra plays Havilder Ishwar Singh’s estranged daughter.
“Kesari is a big-budget war film. I get excited whenever I do a project that marries content with commercial elements. 2.0 was also in that zone, so I want to keep exploring this space in the future,” said Kumar, who has co-produced the film with Dharma Productions, Azure Entertainment and Zee Studios.
Anurag Singh made his Bollywood directorial debut with the Hindi romantic thriller, Raqeeb (2007).
Singh is known for helming several successful Punjabi films, including Yaar Annmulle, Jatt & Juliet, Jatt and Juliet 2 and Super Singh.
Kesari is scheduled to release on March 21, 2019. Besides Kesari, Akshay Kumar will be seen in the upcoming space drama film, Mission Mangal, and the comedy entertainment, Housefull 4. Akshay Kumar is also expected to portray Rajput ruler Prithviraj Chauhan in an upcoming biopic produced by Yash Raj Films.