Ishar Singh intervenes, fights off the tribesmen and rescues the woman by killing her husband, thereby disobeying his immediate superior. While just returning from a border patrol, the troop sees a group of Afghan tribesmen led by a Mullah named Saidullah trying to kill a married Afghani woman who does not acknowledge her forced marriage. A British officer is jealous of him because of his superior fighting skills and thinks little of the native Indians, deeming them to be cowards. Havaldar Ishar Singh is a part of the Sikh Regiment of British Indian Army posted at Gulistan fort along the Indian Afghan border. It grossed over ₹207.09 crore worldwide and found a place in the highest-grossing Bollywood films of 2019. The film grossed over ₹100 crore worldwide in its opening weekend. It received positive reviews from critics it had a good start at the box office, while the opening day morning collection was affected by Holi-related celebrations. The film was released in India during the Holi festival, on 21 March 2019. Produced on a budget of ₹80 crore (US$12 million), the film was distributed internationally by Zee Studios. The soundtrack was composed by Tanishk Bagchi, Arko Pravo Mukherjee, Chirantan Bhatt, Jasbir Jassi, Gurmoh and Jasleen Royal with lyrics written by Kumaar, Manoj Muntashir, Kunwar Juneja and Bagchi. Principal photography for the film began in January 2018 and concluded in December. Chopra was cast as the wife of Kumar's character. Initially planned as a production collaboration between Salman Khan and Johar with Kumar starring in the lead role, Kesari was announced in October 2017, with Kumar and Johar reprising their responsibilities Khan later quit the project. It follows the events leading to the Battle of Saragarhi, a battle between 21 soldiers of the 36th Sikhs of the British Indian Army and 6,000–10,000 Afridi and Orakzai Pashtun tribesmen in 1897. The film stars Akshay Kumar with Parineeti Chopra, Mir Sarwar, Vansh Bhardwaj, Jaspreet Singh, Vivek Saini and Vikram Kochhar in supporting roles. It was jointly produced by Karan Johar, Aruna Bhatia, Hiroo Yash Johar, Apoorva Mehta and Sunir Khetarpal under the banners of Dharma Productions, Cape of Good Films, Azure Entertainment and Zee Studios. Kesari (transl. Saffron) is a 2019 Indian Hindi-language action-war film written and directed by Anurag Singh.