केसरी चैप्टर 2

Kesari Chapter 2 (2025), directed by Karan Singh Tyagi and produced by Dharma Productions, tells the story of C. Sankaran Nair — the lawyer and former President of the Indian National Congress who took the British colonial government to court over the Jallianwala Bagh massacre of 1919. Starring Akshay Kumar as Sankaran Nair, R. Madhavan as the opposing British counsel, and Ananya Panday, the film dramatizes the real-life civil case that Nair filed against the Secretary of State for India following General Dyer's order to open fire on a gathering of unarmed civilians, killing an estimated 1,000 people. Released April 18, 2025, the film earned approximately ₹142–144 crore worldwide against an estimated production budget of ₹150 crore, making it a modest underperformer at the box office. The nine-track soundtrack, primarily by Shashwat Sachdev, is the film's most acclaimed element — particularly the devotional track 'Parwardigara' featuring classical vocalist Ajoy Chakrabarty alongside Jubin Nautiyal.

Kesari Chapter 2's nine-track soundtrack is principally composed by Shashwat Sachdev, with additional tracks from Kavita Seth–Kanishk Seth and Sangtar. The classical vocalist Ajoy Chakrabarty's appearance on 'Parwardigara' (alongside Jubin Nautiyal and Garvit Soni) is the album's most significant cultural moment — a Padma Bhushan–winning Khayal vocalist making a rare Bollywood appearance. King's 'Cyclone' provides the album's only contemporary trap number, while Kavita Seth's self-composed 'Khumaari' (with Irshad Kamil lyric) and 'Beetegi Raina' (Sonu Nigam and Sanjith Hegde) represent the album's most emotionally resonant tracks.

Kesari Chapter 2 is among the few mainstream Hindi films to dramatize the legal aftermath of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, shifting the conventional resistance narrative to the courtroom where C. Sankaran Nair challenged the British colonial government. Musically, the soundtrack is the film's most acclaimed achievement: Shashwat Sachdev's nine-track album represents his most ambitious work, and the casting of Padma Bhushan Khayal vocalist Ajoy Chakrabarty on 'Parwardigara' — a rare mainstream Bollywood appearance by one of classical music's living masters — gives the album an extraordinary cultural moment that transcends the film's modest box office performance.

At ₹142–144 crore worldwide against a ₹150 crore production budget, Kesari Chapter 2 was a modest commercial underperformer despite its Dharma Productions pedigree. However, its soundtrack — particularly 'Parwardigara' featuring Ajoy Chakrabarty alongside Jubin Nautiyal — outlasted the theatrical run in cultural significance, with the classical collaboration widely discussed among music enthusiasts. Shashwat Sachdev's score is remembered as his creative peak to 2025.