Bollywood’s action icon Akshay Kumar seems to have found his stride once again with his latest release Kesari Chapter 2, a historical drama that revisits one of India’s most poignant and painful moments — the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. Co-starring R Madhavan and Ananya Panday, the film has witnessed a steady growth in box office numbers since its release and closed out its opening weekend on an optimistic note.
According to early estimates, the film wrapped up its third day — Sunday — on a high, with collections touching ₹12.25 crore. This push took its overall earnings for the weekend to an impressive ₹29.75 crore in the domestic market. The film had earned ₹17.92 crore over its first two days, showing clear signs of gaining traction with audiences.
Although Kesari Chapter 2 is outperforming some of Kumar’s recent releases like Khel Khel Mein and Sarfira, it still lags behind his blockbuster hit from January 2025, Sky Force, which roared into theatres with a staggering ₹60 crore haul in just three days. The current film also trails behind Bade Miyan Chote Miyan, but has comfortably surpassed the numbers posted by his other two recent outings.
One aspect that continues to intrigue both fans and trade analysts is the film’s nationwide occupancy rate. On Sunday, theatre occupancy hit 32.23% across nearly 4,000 screenings in India. Certain metro cities posted particularly strong numbers, with Chennai leading the chart at 72.25% across 47 shows. Hyderabad followed closely with 46.25% for its 156 screenings, while Bengaluru maintained a healthy 43.5% over 269 shows. In the Mumbai circuit, the film drew a crowd with 28.75% occupancy out of 796 shows, whereas the Delhi-NCR belt reported a more balanced 35.25% attendance across 950 shows.
Helmed by director Karan Singh Tyagi, Kesari Chapter 2: The Untold Story Of Jallianwala Bagh has been backed by Dharma Productions, Leo Media Collective, and Cape of Good Films. The movie also features Alexx O’Nell and Regina Cassandra in pivotal roles, alongside the leading trio.
The film, made on an estimated budget of ₹150 crore, casts Akshay Kumar in the role of the valiant lawyer C. Sankaran Nair, who fought a lonely battle to expose the truth behind the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. The film explores the aftermath of the horrific incident that occurred on April 13, 1919, when British officer Brigadier General Reginald Dyer ordered his troops to fire mercilessly on an unarmed crowd assembled at Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar, protesting against the oppressive Rowlatt Act. The massacre remains one of the bloodiest episodes of British colonial rule, with Indian accounts estimating over 500 deaths, though British records downplayed the figure to 291.
This sequel arrives six years after the release of Kesari (2019), a film that chronicled the valor of 21 Sikh soldiers who bravely held their ground against 10,000 Afghan tribesmen during the Battle of Saragarhi. The original film, also fronted by Akshay Kumar, featured Parineeti Chopra as the female lead and was met with both commercial success and critical acclaim.
As the days unfold, industry insiders are keeping a close eye on whether Kesari Chapter 2 can maintain its momentum and breach the ₹50 crore milestone, a feat that will depend heavily on strong weekday performance and word-of-mouth traction.
Whether or not it matches the box office heights of Sky Force, the film has certainly carved a place for itself in the hearts of audiences who appreciate cinematic retellings of India’s hard-fought history.
