Kesari (2019 film)

Kesari
Theatrical release poster
Hindiकेसरी
Directed byAnurag Singh
Written by
Produced by
  • Karan Johar
  • Hiroo Yash Johar
  • Apoorva Mehta
  • Aruna Bhatia
  • Sunir Khetarpal
StarringAkshay Kumar
Parineeti Chopra
CinematographyAnshul Chobey
Edited byManish More
Music bySongs:
Tanishk Bagchi
Arko Pravo Mukherjee
Chirantan Bhatt
Jasbir Jassi
Gurmoh
Jasleen Royal
Score:
Raju Singh
Production
companies
Distributed byZee Studios
Release date
  • 21 March 2019 (2019-03-21)
Running time
150 minutes[1]
CountryIndia
LanguageHindi
Box office₹207.09 crore[2]

Kesari (transl. Saffron) is a 2019 Indian Hindi-language war film[3] written and directed by Anurag Singh. It was jointly produced by Aruna Bhatia, Karan Johar, Hiroo Yash Johar, Apoorva Mehta, and Sunir Khetarpal under the banners of Dharma Productions, Cape of Good Films, Azure Entertainment, and Zee Studios. The film stars Akshay Kumar with Parineeti Chopra, Vikram Singh Chauhan, Sarwar, Vansh Bhardwaj, Jaspreet Singh, Vivek Saini, Vikram Kochhar, and Rakesh Sharma in supporting roles. It follows the events leading to the Battle of Saragarhi, a battle between 21 Sikh[4] soldiers of the 36th Sikh Regiment of the British Indian Army and 10,000 Afridi and Orakzai Pashtun tribesmen in 1897 [citation needed].

Initially planned as a production collaboration between Salman Khan and Johar with Kumar starring in the lead role, Kesari was announced in October 2017, with Kumar and Johar reprising their responsibilities; Khan later quit the project. Parineeti Chopra was cast as the wife of Kumar's character. Principal photography for the film began in January 2018 and concluded in December. The soundtrack was composed by Tanishk Bagchi, Arko Pravo Mukherjee, Chirantan Bhatt, Jasbir Jassi, Gurmoh and Jasleen Royal with lyrics written by Kumaar, Manoj Muntashir, Kunwar Juneja and Bagchi. Produced on a budget of ₹80 crore (equivalent to ₹99 crore or US$12 million in 2023), the film was distributed internationally by Zee Studios.[5]

The film was released in India during the Holi festival, on 21 March 2019. It received positive reviews from critics. It had a good start at the box office, while the opening day morning collection was affected by Holi-related celebrations.[6][7] The film grossed over ₹100 crore worldwide in its opening weekend.[2]

  1. ^ "Kesari 2019 | British Board of Film Classification". Bbfc.co.uk. 20 March 2019. Archived from the original on 4 July 2019. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
  2. ^ a b "Kesari – Box Office Collection till Now – Bollywood Hungama". Bollywood Hungama. 21 March 2019. Archived from the original on 30 March 2019. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
  3. ^ "EXCLUSIVE - 'Akshay Kumar gave a nod to 'Kesari's' subject even before it was offered to him': Director Anurag Singh". DNA India. Archived from the original on 14 August 2019. Retrieved 15 August 2019. It's a war film and to know what kind of terrain and the need for that location, the budget was high.
  4. ^ "Ahead of Akshay Kumar's Kesari, here's the true story of Battle of Saragarhi". Hindustan Times. 19 March 2019. Archived from the original on 30 October 2022. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference budget was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ "Kesari box office collection day 1: Akshay Kumar starrer hit by Holi, expected to earn this much: Kesari box office collection". Zee Business. 21 March 2019. Archived from the original on 21 March 2019. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
  7. ^ "Kesari Has A Good Start". Box Office India. 21 March 2019. Archived from the original on 27 March 2019. Retrieved 21 March 2019.