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.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 .
The 36th Sikhs of the British Indian Army fought against 10,000–12,000 tribesmen .