Kesari (2019 film)
Updated: 12/11/2025, 12:18:15 PM Wikipedia source
Kesari (transl. Saffron) is a 2019 Indian Hindi-language historical war action film starring Akshay Kumar and directed by Anurag Singh. It follows the events leading to the Battle of Saragarhi, a battle between 21 Sikh soldiers of the 36th Sikh Regiment of the British Indian Army and 10,000 Afridi and Orakzai Pashtun tribesmen in 1897. 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 Kumar's character's wife. 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. The film was released in India during the Holi festival, on 21 March 2019. The film grossed over ₹207 crore worldwide.
Infobox
Directed by
Anurag Singh
Written by
mw- Anurag SinghGirish Kohli
Based on
Battle of Saragarhi
Produced by
Karan JoharHiroo Yash JoharApoorva MehtaAruna BhatiaSunir Khetarpal
Starring
Akshay KumarParineeti Chopra
Cinematography
Anshul Chobey
Edited by
Manish More
Music by
Songs:Tanishk BagchiArko Pravo MukherjeeChirantan BhattJasbir JassiGurmohJasleen RoyalScore:Raju Singh
Productioncompanies
Zee StudiosDharma ProductionsCape of Good FilmsAzure Entertainment
Distributed by
Zee Studios
Release date
21 March 2019 (2019-03-21)
Running time
150 minutes
Country
India
Language
Hindi
Box office
₹207.09 crore
Tables
· Awards and nominations
Award
Award
List of awards and nominations
Award
List of awards and nominations
Date of ceremony
List of awards and nominations
Category
List of awards and nominations
Recipient(s)
List of awards and nominations
Result
List of awards and nominations
Ref(s)
Filmfare Awards
Filmfare Awards
List of awards and nominations
Filmfare Awards
List of awards and nominations
15 February 2020
List of awards and nominations
Best Actor
List of awards and nominations
Akshay Kumar
List of awards and nominations
Nominated
Best Music
Best Music
List of awards and nominations
Best Music
List of awards and nominations
Tanishk Bagchi, Arko Pravo Mukherjee, Chirantan Bhatt, Jasbir Jassi, Gurmoh and Jasleen Royal
Best Lyricist
Best Lyricist
List of awards and nominations
Best Lyricist
List of awards and nominations
Manoj Muntashir for "Teri Mitti"
Tanishk Bagchi for "Ve Mahi"
Tanishk Bagchi for "Ve Mahi"
List of awards and nominations
Tanishk Bagchi for "Ve Mahi"
Best Male Playback Singer
Best Male Playback Singer
List of awards and nominations
Best Male Playback Singer
List of awards and nominations
Arijit Singh for "Ve Mahi"
B Praak for "Teri Mitti"
B Praak for "Teri Mitti"
List of awards and nominations
B Praak for "Teri Mitti"
Best Action
Best Action
List of awards and nominations
Best Action
List of awards and nominations
Parvez ShaikhLawrence Woodward
Best Production Design
Best Production Design
List of awards and nominations
Best Production Design
List of awards and nominations
Subrata ChakrabortyAmit Ray
IIFA Awards
IIFA Awards
List of awards and nominations
IIFA Awards
List of awards and nominations
24 November 2021
List of awards and nominations
Best Film
List of awards and nominations
Kesari
List of awards and nominations
Nominated
Best Music Director
Best Music Director
List of awards and nominations
Best Music Director
List of awards and nominations
Tanishk Bagchi, Arko Pravo Mukherjee, Chirantan Bhatt, Jasbir Jassi, Raju Singh, Gurmoh and Jasleen Royal
Best Lyricist
Best Lyricist
List of awards and nominations
Best Lyricist
List of awards and nominations
Manoj Muntashir (For "Teri Mitti")
List of awards and nominations
Won
Best Male Playback Singer
Best Male Playback Singer
List of awards and nominations
Best Male Playback Singer
List of awards and nominations
B Praak (For "Teri Mitti")
List of awards and nominations
Nominated
National Film Awards
National Film Awards
List of awards and nominations
National Film Awards
List of awards and nominations
25 October 2021
List of awards and nominations
Best Male Playback Singer
List of awards and nominations
Won
Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards India
Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards India
List of awards and nominations
Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards India
List of awards and nominations
21 December 2019
List of awards and nominations
Favourite Bollywood Movie Song
List of awards and nominations
"Ve Maahi" by Tanishk Bagchi, Arijit Singh and Asees Kaur
List of awards and nominations
Won
List of awards and nominations
[citation needed]
| List of awards and nominations | |||||
| Award | Date of ceremony | Category | Recipient(s) | Result | Ref(s) |
| Filmfare Awards | 15 February 2020 | Best Actor | Akshay Kumar | Nominated | |
| Best Music | Tanishk Bagchi, Arko Pravo Mukherjee, Chirantan Bhatt, Jasbir Jassi, Gurmoh and Jasleen Royal | ||||
| Best Lyricist | Manoj Muntashir for "Teri Mitti" | ||||
| Tanishk Bagchi for "Ve Mahi" | |||||
| Best Male Playback Singer | Arijit Singh for "Ve Mahi" | ||||
| B Praak for "Teri Mitti" | |||||
| Best Action | Parvez ShaikhLawrence Woodward | ||||
| Best Production Design | Subrata ChakrabortyAmit Ray | ||||
| IIFA Awards | 24 November 2021 | Best Film | Kesari | Nominated | |
| Best Music Director | Tanishk Bagchi, Arko Pravo Mukherjee, Chirantan Bhatt, Jasbir Jassi, Raju Singh, Gurmoh and Jasleen Royal | ||||
| Best Lyricist | Manoj Muntashir (For "Teri Mitti") | Won | |||
| Best Male Playback Singer | B Praak (For "Teri Mitti") | Nominated | |||
| National Film Awards | 25 October 2021 | Best Male Playback Singer | Won | ||
| Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards India | 21 December 2019 | Favourite Bollywood Movie Song | "Ve Maahi" by Tanishk Bagchi, Arijit Singh and Asees Kaur | Won | [citation needed] |
References
- Bbfc.co.ukhttps://web.archive.org/web/20190704135625/https://bbfc.co.uk/releases/kesari-2019
- Bollywood Hungamahttps://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movie/kesari/box-office/
- "EXCLUSIVE - 'Akshay Kumar gave a nod to 'Kesari's' subject even before it was offered to him': Director Anurag Singh"https://www.dnaindia.com/bollywood/report-exclusive-akshay-kumar-gave-a-nod-to-kesari-s-subject-even-before-it-was-offered-to-him-director-anurag-singh-2781689
- Hindustan Timeshttps://www.hindustantimes.com/bollywood/ahead-of-akshay-kumar-s-kesari-here-s-the-true-story-of-battle-of-saragarhi/story-s8shvaI4Uhz3nawC6FBbLP.html
- Business Todayhttps://www.businesstoday.in/trending/box-office/akshay-kumar-kesari-movie-check-out-trailer-box-office-prediction-songs-cast/story/328793.html
- "Karan Johar and Akshay Kumar's Battle of Saragarhi film to be titled Kesari"http://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/bollywood/karan-johar-and-akshay-kumars-battle-of-saragarhi-film-to-be-titled-kesari-4883851/
- Hindustan Timeshttps://www.hindustantimes.com/bollywood/parineeti-chopra-on-kesari-we-joke-that-i-did-the-film-just-for-the-romantic-song-with-akshay-kumar/story-LcTLsZIDsTVD0GocALztaK.html
- India Todayhttps://www.indiatoday.in/movies/bollywood/story/kesari-first-look-akshay-kumar-turban-karan-johar-1123035-2018-01-05
- www.timesnownews.comhttps://www.timesnownews.com/entertainment/news/bollywood-news/article/as-akshay-kumar-wraps-kesari-parineeti-chopra-shares-her-first-look-from-the-war-film-see-photos/332184
- "Kesari"https://boxofficeindia.com/movie.php?movieid=5617
- "Kesari – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack"https://www.jiosaavn.com/album/kesari/uJBqq5YxDlM_
- "Kesari First Poster Released: Akshay Kumar Pays Tribute To Martyrs Of Saragarhi"https://headlinestoday.org/entertainment/2701/kesari-first-poster-released-akshay-kumar-pays-tribute-to-martyrs-of-saragarhi/
- "Unraveling the pages of history... First glimpse of #Kesari... 21 March 2019 release... #GlimpsesOfKesari https://t.co/HiksYMvKLc"https://x.com/taran_adarsh/status/1094990068924723202
- "Glimpses of Kesari – Part 1| Akshay Kumar |Parineeti Chopra"https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=r6c9ALhgzH4
- "Glimpses of Kesari – Part 2|Akshay Kumar|Parineeti Chopra|Anurag Singh"https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=q9In6sxMFDA
- "Trailer out tomorrow... New poster of #Kesari... Stars Akshay Kumar and Parineeti Chopra... Directed by Anurag Singh... 21 March 2019 release. #KesariTrailerTomorrow https://t.co/l1MkoAxzzK"https://x.com/taran_adarsh/status/1098148312937488384
- "#Kesari screen count... India: 3600 Overseas: 600 Worldwide total: 4200 screens"https://x.com/taran_adarsh/status/1108583887465336833
- GQ Indiahttps://www.gqindia.com/entertainment/content/best-amazon-prime-movies-originals-newly-added-and-list-of-hollywood-and-bollywood-movies-to-watch-on-amazon-prime-in-may-2019
- https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/kesarihttps://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/kesari
- Times of Indiahttps://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/movie-reviews/kesari/movie-review/68495644.cms
- Times Now Newshttps://www.timesnownews.com/entertainment/reviews/movies/article/kesari-movie-review-akshay-kumars-action-avatar-is-the-highlight-of-this-emotional-war-drama/386044
- Scroll.inhttps://scroll.in/reel/917358/kesari-movie-review-Akshay-kumar-flexes-his-vocal-cords-in-underwhelming-ode-to-bravery
- "#Kesari benchmarks... Highest *Day 1* of 2019 [so far]: ₹ 21.06 cr Crossed ₹ 50 cr: Day 3 Crossed ₹ 75 cr: Day 4 Highest opening weekend of 2019 [so far]: ₹ 78.07 cr [4 days; Thu-Sun] India biz"https://x.com/taran_adarsh/status/1110070371963682817
- "#Kesari is now *fastest* ₹ 100 cr grosser of 2019 [so far]... Crosses ₹ 100 cr on Day 7... Thu 21.06 cr, Fri 16.75 cr, Sat 18.75 cr, Sun 21.51 cr, Mon 8.25 cr, Tue 7.17 cr, Wed 6.52. Total: ₹ 100.01 cr. India biz... ₹ 100 cr in days: #GullyBoy [Day 8]. #TotalDhamaal [Day 9]"https://x.com/taran_adarsh/status/1111150827270557696
- Bollywood Hungamahttps://www.bollywoodhungama.com/box-office-collections/worldwide/2019/
- The Times of Indiahttps://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/news/nominations-for-the-65th-filmfare-awards-are-out/articleshow/73881320.cms
- filmfare.comhttps://www.filmfare.com/news/bollywood/technical-nominations-for-the-65th-filmfare-awards-2020_-38868.html
- IIFA - International Indian Film Academyhttps://www.iifa.com/blog/Xl-zhxEAACIAaNIf/iifa-awards-2020-here-are-the-nominations
- The Hinduhttps://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/movies/67th-national-film-awards-complete-list-updating/article34131921.ece
- NDTVhttps://www.ndtv.com/entertainment/kesari-chapter-2-akshay-kumar-and-r-madhavans-film-to-release-on-this-date-7722290
- Times Nowhttps://www.timesnownews.com/entertainment-news/bollywood/akshay-kumar-confirms-kesari-3-reveals-it-will-be-based-on-sikh-general-hari-singh-nalwa-article-151340411