Akshay Kumar greets people on Baisakhi with a still from his war film Kesari

Akshay will essay the role of Havaldar Ishar Singh, the military commander of 21 Sikh regiment, who fought bravely against Afghani invaders in the 1987 war which eventually came to be known as the battle of Saragarhi.

Mumbai: Akshay Kumar is shooting for Kesari, a film based on the Battle of Saragarhi, produced by Karan Johar's Dharma Productions.

In the film, Akshay will essay the role of Havaldar Ishar Singh, the military commander of 21 Sikh regiment, who on September 12, 1897, fought bravely against Afghani invaders in the war which eventually came to be known as the battle of Saragarhi.

Actress Parineeti Chopra, who has also been roped in for the film, will be seen in the role of Eesha, daughter of Ishar Singh while television renowned actor Mohit Raina will be seen playing her fiancé. Directed by Anurag Singh, 'Kesari' is slated to hit screens in March next year. 

Earlier in the day, the actor took to his Twitter handle to extend his wishes on the occasion of Baisakhi. "Tuhanu saareyaan nu Baisakhi di sohni saver mubarak hove!! Hasde vasde raho!!," he wrote.

Check out his post: 

For the unversed, Salman Khan was initially a part of the film as a co-producer. But on realising that Ajay Devgn had announced a film on the same subject much earlier, the Dabangg Khan decided to walk out of the project, which would have been his first joint production with Johar, reports suggest.

Interestingly, Rajkumar Santoshi is also making a film on a similar subject with actor Randeep Hooda in the lead.