New Delhi: Filmmaker Karan Johar with Bollywood actors R. Madhavan and Akshay Kumar during a press meet for the upcoming film ‘Kesari Chapter 2’, in New Delhi, Thursday, April 3, 2025.
| Photo Credit: PTI

Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar has addressed using the f-word in the teaser for Kesari Chapter 2, a historical courtroom drama set in the aftermath of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.

Launching the film’s trailer in New Delhi, Akshay was asked about the scene in the teaser where he retorts to a British judge’s ‘slave’ remark with “f**k you”.

Addressing the unparliamentary nature of his character’s language, Akshay said, “Yes, I have used that word. But what is interesting is that the judge tells my character he is still a slave (to the British empire). Was that not a bigger gaali (curse)? I think there cannot be a bigger profanity than that.”

Akshay also shared how his father, Hari Om Bhatia, was born in Amritsar near the Jallianwala Bagh site.

Kesari Chapter 2 also stars Ananya Panday and R Madhavan. Akshay portrays the role of Sir CS Nair, a celebrated Indian lawyer and nationalist, in the film.

The movie is based on the book “The Case That Shook the Empire” by Nair’s great grandson Raghu Palat and Pushpa Palat. It details the 1924 defamation trial in which Michael O’Dwyer, former Lieutenant Governor of Punjab and the architect of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, sued Nair who had criticised British atrocities in Punjab in his book. Akshay said he had no knowledge about the trial before Raghu Palat’s book.

“It’s a very important film. My dad was born just opposite Jallianwala Bagh,” Akshay said. “There is a street called Katra Ahluwalia and he was born there. And my grandfather had also seen all this.

“We made this film out of anger because I listened to the stories of that incident. My dad told me, my grandfather told me,” he said.

Producer Karan Johar said the Jallianwala Bagh massacre was a dark chapter in history.

“It is yet a film that asks the British Empire for an apology through the brave narrative of Sankaran Nair… This film is about the battle fought by Sankaran Nair versus the crown,” he said.

Panday, who plays the role of young lawyer Dilreet Gill in the movie, said the character resonated a lot with her.

“Every film that I do has pieces of me in it… I tried to channel that raw nervous energy of an upcoming lawyer… She is the only female lawyer among so many men. So that power that she got from within while she was fighting that case, I tried to channel a bit of that from my own experience of starting my career when I was 18… So I did try to take a little bit of my life from that,” she said, adding that she had to learn Punjabi for the movie.

The actor said her knowledge about the massacre was also very limited and there were many unbelievable moments during the making.

“I had heard a lot of stories from my grandmother. I had heard a lot of stories about partition because my grandfather was separated from his father in the partition…

“I remember when the narration happened, I was constantly asking, ‘Did this really happen?’ I was shocked that so much happened and we don’t even know one per cent of it. So thanks to the book and thanks to the script, I got to learn a lot. I hope that people watch this movie and they learn as well,” she added.

Madhavan stars as the British lawyer Neville Mckinley and he said the Jallianwala Bagh massacre was a genocide.

“I felt that this was a story that needed to be told. I don’t think about whether it’s positive or negative. I just want to convey the truth, even if it’s harsh… That’s when I’ll know I’ve succeeded in my career,” he added.

Kesari Chapter 2 is written by Karan Singh Tyagi and Amritpal Singh Bindra. It is presented by Dharma Production, Kumar’s Cape of Good Films and Leo Media Collective.

(with PTI inputs)