Kesari Veer Review: Epic Blunder

Sooraj Pancholi, nostrils flaring and eyes twitching, tries to sell his character’s steely resolve, but, sighs Mayur Sanap, the boy just can’t act.

Very early in Kesari Veer I figured that I was in for an ordeal.

It begins with an elaborate introduction sequence that depicts a cliché trope of the hero’s saviour complex.

A group of helpless women is caught by lusty men.

Clutched by chains, these women are crying and begging for help, and just as one of them is subjected to assault, the hero emerges, fights in slow motion, and saves the day.

Sooraj Pancholi gets this stylised entry shot, a Rajput prince who doubles up as a dharma rakshak. And the barbaric men whom he has just decapitated are Muslim invaders hell-bent on razing Hindus to the ground.

You get the drill, this is that kind of film.

On the surface, Kesari Veer is a tribute to the martyrdom of Hamirji Gohil, a Rajput warrior who fought Muslim invaders to protect the Somnath temple from destruction.

But as expected, what we have is a high-pitched action spectacle masquerading as homage, much like what we saw in Chhaava.

Unlike the Vicky Kaushal starrer, which had a few redeemable qualities, Kesari Veer is a tardy mixture of limp film-making and laughably bad performances that serves only unrelenting chest-thumping.

Right from the beginning, everything seems off.

And after that atrocious opening stretch, it’s only downhill for the plot that takes us through the gibberish of yeh log and hum log.

Everything in this film is written with the sole objective of latching on nationalistic fervour, and, as a result, there’s no subtlety in the way it tries to push your buttons.

Be it Vivek Oberoi’s banal evil Zafar Khan strutting around and butchering people to show his vileness or Suniel Shetty’s Shiv bhakt who delivers a loud war cry, it all adds to a singularly uninspired film.

If the idea was to make a sprawling epic then Director Price Dhiman fails even there, with its seen-it-all-before repetition.

To rescue myself from boredom, I enjoyed this little ‘spot the movie’ game.

A massive, VFX-laden waterfall appearing in the background? Oh, that’s Baahubali.

A lovestruck moment in the middle of a fight? That’s again, Baahubali.

A sorrowful wife seeing off her husband for war? That’s Padmaavat.

A few good men fighting until their last breath? Ah, Kesari!

What I found myself wrapping my head around was Akanksha Sharma’s character, a warrioress who is supposedly living in the 14th century.

With her impeccable, salon-styled hair and pristine designer lehengas, she looked ready for a Navratri celebration rather than actual warfare.

Sooraj Pancholi doesn’t know any better either.

Nostrils flaring and eyes twitching, he tries to sell his character’s steely resolve, but, the boy just can’t act.

At one point in the film, Vivek Oberoi disdainfully declares, ‘Bacchon ka khel khatam ho jaaye toh hame jaga dena.’

I felt validated. That’s exactly what I wanted to say to this film.

Kesari Veer Review Rediff Rating: