The actor kicked off work on his upcoming period film on Friday, based on the Battle of Saragarhi
Avinash Lohana and Natasha Coutinho (MUMBAI MIRROR; January 6, 2018)

Fresh off his annual family vacation in Cape Town, Akshay Kumar kicked off the shoot of Anurag Singh’s Kesari, which is inspired by the Battle of Saragarhi of 1897, on Friday, in a studio of a Mumbai suburb. The 50-year-old actor plays Havildar Ishar Singh in the period-drama.

To mark the occasion, Akshay shared his look from the film, saying, “Feeling nothing but immense pride and gratitude while sharing this; Beginning 2018 with Kesari, my most ambitious film and a lot of passion.” The actor showed up on the set at 7.30 am and began with a pooja.

“Sheetal Sharma, who has worked with Akshay in Airlift, has designed his look. Shooting kicked off only after the look test was approved a day earlier. On Sunday, Akshay will shoot an action sequence on the same set but major portions of the battle have been reserved for Wai, a town in the Satara district where huge sets of the Saragarhi and Gulistan forts will be erected,” a source told Mirror.

An Afghan village has been recreated to shoot sequences of soldiers mingling with the locals. According to the source, Akshay will shoot in the suburb for four days, after which he dives into the promotions of his home production, Pad Man. “Later, he will head to Wai schedule,” the source informed.

Mirror (Nov 30) had earlier reported that the makers have roped in Lawrence Woodward, the stunt coordinator behind Hollywood films Mad Max: Fury Road and Moulin Rouge, to design action for Kesari. He will be training Akshay in sword-fighting besides other sequences which also include hand-to-hand combat.

Incidentally, while speaking to Mirror recently (January 2), Akshay had revealed that swordfighting and paragliding are on the cards for him in the New Year. “One is for pain and the other for pleasure, both to be enjoyed equally as my passion for them is off the charts,” he had said.