Filmmaker Karan Johar has confirmed that actress Parineeti Chopra  will be the female lead of his forthcoming venture, Kesari , which stars superstar Akshay Kumar as the male lead. Kesari is based on the famous battle of Saragarhi, spearheaded by Havildar Ishar Singh. Kumar will be seen in the role of Ishar Singh in the period movie. Several names were doing the rounds for the leading lady of the film. But leaving everyone behind, Parineeti has bagged the plum role. Kesari will mark her first association with Akshay Kumar and second with producer Karan Johar after Hasee Toh Phasee , which released in 2014.

As mentioned earlier, Kesari is being made under the banner of Karan Johar 's Dharma Productions. However, when the film was announced a couple of months back, Salman Khan was also a part of it in the capacity of a co-producer. But since his close friend Ajay Devgn was also said to be making a film on the battle of Saragarhi, the superstar decided to back out of the project.

Kesari is a big-budgeted movie and it could turn out to be another feather in Parineeti Chopra 's cap after the humongous success of her last release, Golmaal Again , which emerged as the second biggest blockbuster of 2017.

To be directed by Anurag Singh , Kesari is slated to arrive in cinemas on Holi 2019.