SonyLIV launched the trailer for its upcoming original series ‘The Waking Of A Nation’ today and the first thing that comes to mind is, “Isn’t Akshay Kumar’s ‘Kesari Chapter 2’ based on the same story?”. Well, because it is!
Both the above mentioned projects are inspired from true events and follow the story of one of India’s top barrister C. Sankaran Nair who fought an unprecedented battle against the British Empire which tried to cover-up the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.
The thing working in favour of SonyLIV’s ‘The Waking Of A Nation’ is that it’s coming before ‘Kesari Chapter 2’ that stars Akshay Kumar, R. Madhavan and Ananya Panday. This reduces chances of comparison would could have gone against the former given the relatively younger and fresh cast.
On the other hand, the series format gives ‘The Waking Of A Nation’ a much bigger scope to go into details, develop better character arcs and hand out more info to the public. Therefore when ‘Kesari Chapter 2’ releases in theatres on 18th April, 2025, people would already know the plotline, that too in greater depth, and that could go against it.
Talking of the trailer, SonyLIV’s ‘The Waking Of A Nation’ looks good with that vintage vibe featuring Taarik Raina who gives his best in the lead role. The era is portrayed well, the tension of those times is conspicuous and overall production quality is what one would expect from SonyLIV.
Created and directed by Ram Madhvani (‘Neerja’, ‘Aarya’, ‘Dhamaka’), ‘The Waking Of A Nation’ stars Taaruk Raina, Nikita Dutta, Sahil Mehta, Bhawsheel Singh Sahni, Paul Mcewan, Alexander West, Carl Wharton, Raymond Bethley, Tómas Howser, Ant Wright, Matthew Metcalfe, and more.
Produced by Ram Madhvani Films, ‘The Waking Of A Nation’ will premiere on SonyLIV on 7th March, 2025.