You’ve heard the names Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru countless times. But have you ever come across the name of the Malayali who shook the foundations of the British Empire — not from the streets, but from inside its own courtroom?
A man who didn’t just fight for the victims of British brutality, but for the very soul of India.
You might’ve heard his name just 20 days ago. But over a century ago, he made history — history that our textbooks quietly swept under the rug.
This is the story of Sir Chettur Sankaran Nair — the lone warrior who challenged the might of the British Raj and exposed their crimes after the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.
Kesari Chapter 2, an upcoming film, brings this forgotten hero back into the spotlight — a film set to remind us of a man history tried to forget. This powerful movie on his life and bravery will unravel how a lone Malayali voice roared within the courts of the British establishment, shaking its very foundations after the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.
One of India’s most remarkable yet forgotten freedom fighters, Sankaran Nair was a legal genius, a staunch nationalist, and an outspoken critic of colonial rule. He began his legal career in 1880 at the Madras High Court and swiftly rose through the ranks. By 1908, he became Advocate General and then a permanent judge of the Madras High Court — an extraordinary feat for an Indian under British rule.
Born into an affluent family in Kerala’s Palakkad district, Nair’s brilliance was matched by his unwavering commitment to Indian self-rule. He served as President of the Indian National Congress in 1897 and was a tireless advocate for civil liberties and constitutional reform.
In 1915, he was appointed the only Indian member of the Viceroy’s Executive Council, a position of rare influence. But in 1919, everything changed.
The Jallianwala Bagh massacre left him shattered. While most in power stayed silent, Nair did the unthinkable, he resigned in protest. His bold exit from the British establishment sent shockwaves across the Empire. It was one of the earliest and most powerful acts of resistance from within the colonial machinery.
But he didn’t stop there. In 1922, he published Gandhi and Anarchy, where he fiercely criticised Michael O’Dwyer, the former Lieutenant Governor of Punjab who oversaw the massacre. O’Dwyer filed a defamation case against him in the High Court of London.
What followed was one of the longest civil trials in British legal history. For over five weeks, Sir Sankaran Nair stood his ground. He refused to apologise and chose to pay £500 in damages rather than surrender his truth. His fearless stand in a foreign courtroom remains one of the most underappreciated chapters of our freedom struggle.
Nair passed away in 1934. But his legacy echoed six years later when Udham Singh assassinated Michael O’Dwyer in London, a moment etched in Indian memory and immortalised in Sardar Udham, starring Vicky Kaushal.
And now, the world will remember the man who stood tall when silence was easy. In Kesari Chapter 2, Akshay Kumar steps into the shoes of Sir Sankaran Nair, with R Madhavan and Ananya Panday joining in this cinematic resurrection of a forgotten hero.
At a time when silence was the norm, Chettur Sankaran Nair chose to speak. When safety meant submission, he chose resistance. He didn’t just resign, he revolted. He didn’t just write, he roared.
Let this film be more than a tribute. Let it spark renewed reverence for every forgotten freedom fighter who stood tall when it was easier to stay quiet.
